Insider Selling: Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) CEO Sells $428,459.64 in Stock

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,106,859.33. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $68.52 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $71.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.34. The stock has a market cap of $40.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. Equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on EW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,117,845,000 after buying an additional 6,537,494 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,210,879 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,458,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678,154 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,265,633 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,733,270,000 after acquiring an additional 256,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,647,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,007,520,000 after acquiring an additional 126,194 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,775,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $723,664,000 after purchasing an additional 696,965 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.