Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02, reports. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 23.34%.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 1.8 %

EW opened at $86.43 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences has a twelve month low of $60.57 and a twelve month high of $96.12. The firm has a market cap of $52.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 3.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on EW shares. OTR Global upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total transaction of $944,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 39,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,390,542.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total value of $944,130.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 39,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,390,542.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.89, for a total value of $688,426.95. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,809,931.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 194,004 shares of company stock valued at $17,166,254. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Martin Capital Advisors LLP grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP now owns 25,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,944,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 16,958 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,293,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.7% during the first quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 8,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 771 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 6.0% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 2,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

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.