Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Shares Up 2.3%

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) rose 2.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $70.01 and last traded at $69.81. Approximately 1,320,246 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 4,060,616 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $99.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Baird R W cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.59. The firm has a market cap of $42.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.87.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.55% and a return on equity of 22.35%. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 29,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,051,843.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 8,617 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.68, for a total value of $755,538.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,981,354.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,051,843.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,867 shares of company stock worth $2,077,526. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EW. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter valued at $28,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

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.