Brokerages Set Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Price Target at $78.65

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.40.

Several analysts recently weighed in on EW shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $74.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.52. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.67. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $347,550.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,262,521.36. The trade was a 9.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $185,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,508,350. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EW. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter worth $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 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.