Franklin Resources Inc. Has $526,000 Stake in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Free Report) by 54.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,526 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,570 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Wave Life Sciences were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WVE. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 171.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,307,000 after acquiring an additional 100,498 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,269,664 shares of the company's stock worth $18,615,000 after purchasing an additional 283,419 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,321,248 shares of the company's stock worth $19,034,000 after purchasing an additional 57,822 shares in the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 398,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,929,000 after buying an additional 95,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $126,000. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WVE. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush initiated coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised Wave Life Sciences from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wave Life Sciences has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.18.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

WVE traded up $0.50 on Wednesday, hitting $7.06. The company had a trading volume of 182,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,196,742. The company's fifty day moving average price is $8.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.55. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a 1-year low of $4.25 and a 1-year high of $16.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.36 and a beta of -0.93.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.34. Wave Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 280.57% and a negative net margin of 66.50%. The company had revenue of $83.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.60 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total value of $102,585.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,443.55. This represents a 39.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total value of $1,617,569.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,238,019.07. The trade was a 33.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wave Life Sciences Company Profile

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.