Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $8.08, but opened at $7.91. Wave Life Sciences shares last traded at $8.05, with a volume of 560,359 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Trading Down 9.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $925.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.43 and a beta of -0.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.73.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Wave Life Sciences

In other Wave Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,238,019.07. The trade was a 33.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total transaction of $102,585.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 29.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wave Life Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,098,866 shares of the company's stock worth $63,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,262 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,545,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $12,370,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 174.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,540,190 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,630,000 after buying an additional 979,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MPM Bioimpact LLC increased its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 138.5% during the 4th quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,489,237 shares of the company's stock worth $18,422,000 after purchasing an additional 864,766 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.