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

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02, reports. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 23.34% and a net margin of 23.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $86.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 3.38 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $90.28 and its 200 day moving average is $78.85. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1 year low of $60.57 and a 1 year high of $96.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total transaction of $2,311,740.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 34,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,774.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 27,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total transaction of $2,311,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 34,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,774.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at $1,506,925.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 194,004 shares of company stock valued at $17,166,254. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 247.0% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.