Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $93.27.

EW has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $1,212,624.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,639,824.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total value of $944,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 39,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,390,542.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $1,212,624.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,639,824.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 230,693 shares of company stock worth $20,310,942 in the last ninety days. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $648,540,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 18,181,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,386,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,048,274 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 197.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,446,758 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $262,815,000 after acquiring an additional 2,286,119 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $168,519,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 18,973,304 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,813,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,869 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:EW opened at $85.09 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52 week low of $60.57 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 3.75. The firm has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 23.01%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.77 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.