Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Price Target Raised to $83.00

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Citigroup from $81.00 to $83.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.65.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.54. 1,471,573 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,643,711. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.19. The firm has a market cap of $43.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total value of $327,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,077,593.52. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total value of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 198,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,084,848.66. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,323,150. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,196,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $83,282,000 after purchasing an additional 27,193 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 108.0% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 293,758 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,385,000 after purchasing an additional 152,539 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 7,012 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 9,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420 shares in the last quarter. 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.