WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

WVE has been the topic of a number of other reports. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $19.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $34.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $32.00 price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Monday, December 8th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.69.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:WVE opened at $13.67 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.32. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of -18.23 and a beta of -1.78. WAVE Life Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $5.28 and a fifty-two week high of $21.73.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.85 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 111.64% and a negative return on equity of 75.61%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at WAVE Life Sciences

In related news, insider Chris Francis sold 441,031 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.57, for a total value of $6,425,821.67. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at $364,250. The trade was a 94.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Adrian Rawcliffe sold 42,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $630,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,500. This represents a 76.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 912,117 shares of company stock valued at $13,464,044 in the last 90 days. 23.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WVE. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 10.2% in the second quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP raised its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Matisse Capital lifted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 17.9% in the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 13,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WAVE Life Sciences

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.