UBS Group Upgrades WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) to “Strong-Buy”

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) was upgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

WVE has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $31.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut WAVE Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.53.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:WVE traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $3.13. The company had a trading volume of 3,281,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,360,070. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.73. WAVE Life Sciences has a 1 year low of $3.04 and a 1 year high of $21.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $617.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.87 and a beta of -1.43.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.04). WAVE Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 309.73% and a negative return on equity of 50.36%. The company had revenue of $2.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at WAVE Life Sciences

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, Director Heidi Wagner sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total transaction of $42,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 44,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,029.30. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Adrian Rawcliffe sold 12,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total transaction of $67,183.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,564 shares of company stock worth $132,476. Corporate insiders own 24.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new position in WAVE Life Sciences during the second quarter valued at $27,465,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 68.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,541,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,052 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 152.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 597,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 360,800 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 42.6% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,149,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,202,000 after acquiring an additional 343,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the first quarter worth $1,138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

About WAVE Life Sciences

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing RNA medicines for genetic and other serious diseases. The company uses its proprietary oligonucleotide and RNA-editing technologies to target disease-causing genetic instructions, with the goal of selectively correcting, reducing, or modifying RNA activity.

Its development programs have included investigational therapies for conditions such as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Huntington’s disease.