Emerald Advisers LLC Purchases 280,859 Shares of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)

Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,162,369 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 280,859 shares during the quarter. Wave Life Sciences comprises approximately 1.5% of Emerald Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in Wave Life Sciences were worth $39,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WVE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,182,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,368,000 after acquiring an additional 294,956 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $257,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 77,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 9,138 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $853,000. 89.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wave Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total value of $102,585.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,115 shares in the company, valued at $157,443.55. The trade was a 39.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WVE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ WVE opened at $9.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.64 and a beta of -1.04. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a one year low of $4.25 and a one year high of $16.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.55.

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

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.