WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. $WVE Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) by 28.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 107,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,467 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in WAVE Life Sciences were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 44.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,609 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter worth $80,000. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 10.2% during 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 during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the third quarter valued at $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

WVE opened at $13.59 on Wednesday. WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. has a one year low of $5.28 and a one year high of $21.73. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.12 and a beta of -1.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.36.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.85 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 75.61% and a negative net margin of 111.64%. As a group, analysts predict that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 1,470,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $27,930,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This represents a 8.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 93,445 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.65, for a total transaction of $1,368,969.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,700 shares in the company, valued at $186,055. This trade represents a 88.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 912,117 shares of company stock valued at $13,464,044 over the last three months. 23.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on WVE shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $20.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $28.00 price objective on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group set a $32.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted 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 note on Thursday, February 5th. 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, WAVE Life Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.69.

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.