Wall Street Zen Upgrades Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) to “Buy”

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on EW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Argus upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.88.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $104.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.21 and its 200-day moving average is $85.88. The company has a market cap of $60.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 3.77 and a current ratio of 4.52. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52-week low of $74.66 and a 52-week high of $105.37.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.06. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, SVP Andrew M. Dahl sold 544 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.06, for a total transaction of $49,536.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,880.08. This trade represents a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Annette Brüls sold 2,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total transaction of $237,907.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 17,984 shares in the company, valued at $1,618,200.32. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,326 shares of company stock valued at $5,433,775. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. GK Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TrinityBridge Ltd bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 175.2% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 366 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

About Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences is a medical technology company focused on therapies for structural heart disease and critical care. Its products include transcatheter and surgical heart valves, as well as technologies used to monitor patients during intensive care and surgery.

The company traces its origins to 1958, when engineer Lowell Edwards and surgeon Albert Starr began developing an artificial heart valve. Their work led to the Starr-Edwards valve, introduced in 1960. Edwards Lifesciences is headquartered in Irvine, California, and serves clinicians and patients around the world.

Its structural heart portfolio includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) systems and therapies addressing mitral and tricuspid valve disease.