Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $100.27.

Several brokerages recently commented on EW. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Thursday, October 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Daniel Lippis sold 619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total value of $53,017.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 40,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,912.10. This represents a 1.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Annette Brüls sold 2,644 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total transaction of $237,907.12. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,984 shares in the company, valued at $1,618,200.32. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,045 shares of company stock worth $451,596. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EW. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,944 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.5% during the third quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 206,533 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 79.9% during the third quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 29,742 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,567,000 after purchasing an additional 13,213 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, NTV Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $884,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $89.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 3.77. Edwards Lifesciences has a one year low of $74.66 and a one year high of $96.29. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $88.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.65. The company has a market capitalization of $51.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.87.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 15.68% and a net margin of 15.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences will post 3.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edwards Lifesciences Company Profile

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) is a medical technology company focused on therapies for structural heart disease and critical care. The company develops and manufactures products designed to treat conditions affecting the heart’s valves, including aortic, mitral and tricuspid valve disorders.

Its portfolio includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement systems, transcatheter mitral and tricuspid therapies, surgical heart valves and valve-repair technologies. Edwards also provides related delivery systems and other medical devices used by physicians in minimally invasive and open-heart procedures.

Founded in 1958 by Miles Lowell Edwards, the company is headquartered in Irvine, California, and serves healthcare providers and patients internationally.