Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Stock Price Up 2.3%

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) shot up 2.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $70.01 and last traded at $69.81. 1,320,246 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 4,060,616 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.59.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares in the company, valued at $2,051,843.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,051,843.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.54, for a total value of $437,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,108,777.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,867 shares of company stock worth $2,077,526 over the last quarter. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 9,720.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 106,064 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,087,000 after acquiring an additional 104,984 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,125 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $180,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently 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.