Brokerages Set Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) PT at $79.95

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.95.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $71.17 on Tuesday. Edwards Lifesciences has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $41.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064 in the last quarter. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

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

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.