Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW)

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 6,871 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 161% compared to the average volume of 2,633 put options.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded down $22.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $64.21. 18,053,732 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,501,961. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52 week low of $60.57 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.75 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EW shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total value of $622,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,636,549.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.29, for a total transaction of $466,450.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,378,659.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total transaction of $622,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,636,549.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 81,099 shares of company stock worth $7,003,553. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 405.1% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 697 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 2nd quarter worth $102,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 16.5% in the second quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 261,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $24,109,000 after buying an additional 36,901 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter valued at about $250,000. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 15.1% in the second quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $511,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.