Stifel Nicolaus Raises Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Price Target to $85.00

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) had its price target increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $83.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Edwards Lifesciences from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, OTR Global raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a mixed rating to a positive rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $92.71.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW opened at $85.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.75 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1-year low of $60.57 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Equities analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,506,925.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Heisz Leslie Stone sold 7,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.45, for a total value of $609,991.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,421. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total transaction of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,506,925.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 194,004 shares of company stock valued at $17,166,254. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EW. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.8% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,611 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $700,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 106,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,361,000 after purchasing an additional 34,487 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 323,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 66.7% in the third quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,960 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,985 shares during the period. 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.