Edwards Lifesciences’ (EW) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Daiwa America cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.3 %

EW opened at $76.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.10. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted 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 net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total value of $34,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,489 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,829. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 54,589 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

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.