Leerink Partners Boosts Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Price Target to $22.00

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) had its price target lifted by Leerink Partners from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Leerink Partners currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Wave Life Sciences from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.11.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WVE opened at $14.90 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.10. Wave Life Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $3.50 and a fifty-two week high of $15.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.65 and a beta of -1.10.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.09). Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 1,395.99%. The company had revenue of $19.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.80 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.20) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Wave Life Sciences

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at $134,205,528. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Wave Life Sciences news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total transaction of $279,555.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 359,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,075,361.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the second quarter worth $53,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the second quarter worth $74,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $104,000. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Wave Life Sciences

Wave Life Sciences Ltd., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, designs, develops, and commercializes ribonucleic acid (RNA) medicines through PRISM, a discovery and drug development platform. The company's RNA medicines platform, PRISM, combines multiple modalities, chemistry innovation, and deep insights into human genetics to deliver scientific breakthroughs that treat both rare and prevalent disorders.