Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.55.

EW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,106,859.33. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total value of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. The trade was a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,853 shares of company stock valued at $5,163,062 in the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EW. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $71.56 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $95.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $71.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.85.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.45 EPS for the current 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.