Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.55.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EW shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. This trade represents a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total value of $492,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,555,402. This represents a 12.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,853 shares of company stock valued at $5,163,062 over the last quarter. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,173,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1,660.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 72,277 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,770,000 after acquiring an additional 68,172 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 147.0% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 9,106 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 5,420 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 7,012 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,532 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW traded down $2.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,767,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,926,556. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.92. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $95.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $40.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. On average, equities analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edwards Lifesciences Company Profile

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of aortic heart valves under the Edwards SAPIEN family of valves system; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases under the PASCAL PRECISION and Cardioband names.