Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Down 5% After Insider Selling

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s share price fell 5% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $12.87 and last traded at $12.98. 634,435 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 1,112,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.67.

Specifically, CEO Paul Bolno sold 51,234 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.32, for a total value of $733,670.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 217,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,112,466.32. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Francis sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $576,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $17.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James raised shares of Wave Life Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $13.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $7.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.89.

Wave Life Sciences Trading Down 5.4 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.17 and a beta of -1.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 2.7% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 156,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 35.0% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 21,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 5,648 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,834,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,316,000 after buying an additional 521,665 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451 shares during the period. Finally, American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 36,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 6,851 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

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.