Wells Fargo & Company Cuts WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Price Target to $16.00

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on WVE. Citigroup assumed coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $26.00 price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.73.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Down 4.0%

WVE stock opened at $6.67 on Tuesday. WAVE Life Sciences has a 52 week low of $5.28 and a 52 week high of $16.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.41 and a beta of -1.44.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.85 million. On average, analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at WAVE Life Sciences

In related news, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 285,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,852,170. This trade represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 217,351 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $2,195,245.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 121,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,100. This trade represents a 64.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 97.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 78,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 38,870 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $406,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 308,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 59,399 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 41,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 6,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 150,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 41,429 shares during the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.