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

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five research firms that are 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 issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.95.

Several research firms have recently commented on EW. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE EW opened at $72.56 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.56. The firm has a market cap of $42.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, 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 has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $95.73.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $645,620.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. The trade was a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,301.36. This trade represents a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 54,589 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.