Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,610,000 shares, a decline of 15.6% from the September 15th total of 11,380,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on EW shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $102.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research raised Edwards Lifesciences from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.77.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE EW traded up $1.50 on Monday, reaching $69.63. The company had a trading volume of 5,516,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,581,847. The company has a quick ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The stock has a market cap of $41.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.13 and its 200-day moving average is $79.97.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.55% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares in the company, valued at $2,051,843.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,250 shares of company stock valued at $751,688 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the second quarter worth $29,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.