Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Short Interest Down 28.7% in February

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,490,000 shares, a decline of 28.7% from the February 13th total of 11,900,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on EW. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.95.

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Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $70.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,052,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,595,623. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.48 and a 200 day moving average of $70.35. The company has a market capitalization of $41.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,303 shares of company stock worth $3,715,776 over the last ninety days. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Edwards Lifesciences

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.