Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $95.06.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $88.53 on Tuesday. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52-week low of $60.57 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The stock has a market cap of $53.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.22.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 23.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Equities analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.42, for a total transaction of $2,712,527.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,596.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian bought 580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $85.74 per share, with a total value of $49,729.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.42, for a total value of $2,712,527.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,596.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 127,104 shares of company stock worth $11,267,464. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $648,540,000. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 18,181,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,386,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,048,274 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 57.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,516,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $622,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,137 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 197.0% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,446,758 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $262,815,000 after purchasing an additional 2,286,119 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $168,519,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.