Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $70.91, but opened at $74.00. Edwards Lifesciences shares last traded at $75.52, with a volume of 1,541,690 shares trading hands.

The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on EW shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.71.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 375,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,816,000 after acquiring an additional 26,573 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 216,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,029,000 after buying an additional 15,014 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $610,895,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $5,644,000. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 58,008 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 6.1 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $72.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.32. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $44.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.10.

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.