WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Sets New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $4.86 and last traded at $4.8850, with a volume of 314259 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $5.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WVE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Monday, August 3rd. New Street Research set a $13.00 price objective on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group set a $13.00 price target on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WAVE Life Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.53.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $972.44 million, a PE ratio of -4.52 and a beta of -1.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.80.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by ($0.04). WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 50.36% and a negative net margin of 309.73%.The company had revenue of $2.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 million. Analysts forecast that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Adrian Rawcliffe sold 12,700 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total transaction of $67,183.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi L. Wagner sold 7,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total value of $42,070.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 44,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $270,029.30. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 23,564 shares of company stock worth $132,476 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 24.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 6,729.0% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 645.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 9,284 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $182,000. 89.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WAVE Life Sciences Company Profile

WAVE Life Sciences is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company focused on the discovery and development of stereopure oligonucleotide therapies designed to address serious diseases with high unmet medical need. Leveraging proprietary chemistry and precision synthesis, WAVE engineers drug candidates with defined stereochemistry to optimize potency, safety and manufacturability. This approach aims to enhance target specificity and improve therapeutic profiles compared with traditional oligonucleotide medicines.

The company’s pipeline includes programs in neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and neurodegenerative conditions including Huntington’s disease, as well as early-stage cardiovascular and liver indications.