Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Stock

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 11.00% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Daiwa America cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.85.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW opened at $72.07 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.32. 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 capitalization of $42.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.67. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $347,550.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,262,521.36. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 198,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $2,657,000. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EW. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd 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. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. 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.