Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Stock

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 1.26% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Daiwa America lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:EW opened at $75.96 on Wednesday. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $96.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total value of $492,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,555,402. The trade was a 12.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,564,255 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 80.1% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 762,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,466,000 after purchasing an additional 339,299 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $910,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,813,419 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079,642 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 104,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after purchasing an additional 14,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 64.8% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,859 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 9,779 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.