Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,380,000 shares, an increase of 81.8% from the August 31st total of 6,260,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of EW stock traded up $0.81 on Friday, hitting $66.58. The stock had a trading volume of 5,167,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,490,077. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.02. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.77, for a total transaction of $333,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,133,916.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.77, for a total value of $333,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,133,916.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,218,138 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.