Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.95.

Several research firms have commented on EW. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,301.36. The trade was a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total value of $645,620.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,189,770.56. This trade represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,303 shares of company stock worth $3,715,776. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $301,355,000 after buying an additional 1,043,484 shares during the period. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,800,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $355,344,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $3,702,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,845,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of EW opened at $71.43 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.43 and its 200 day moving average is $70.42. Edwards Lifesciences has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $96.12. The company has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. Research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.