Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 43,143 Shares of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,973 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,143 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Wave Life Sciences were worth $3,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kraematon Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Kraematon Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 19,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 3,885 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 109,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after buying an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 14.9% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 63,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 8,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, James J. Burns & Company LLC boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 111,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

WVE opened at $10.04 on Thursday. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $4.25 and a fifty-two week high of $16.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.04 and a beta of -1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $11.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.49.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.34. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. The company had revenue of $83.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.60 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total value of $1,617,569.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,238,019.07. This represents a 33.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 29.10% of the stock is 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.