Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Shares Down 3.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) dropped 3.7% during trading on Friday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $92.00 to $89.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. Edwards Lifesciences traded as low as $84.76 and last traded at $84.76. Approximately 842,369 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 3,789,601 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.01.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.33.

Insider Activity

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at $1,506,925.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at $1,506,925.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total transaction of $2,311,740.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 34,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,774.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 194,004 shares of company stock worth $17,166,254. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EW. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1,224.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,610,412 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $123,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,791 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 158.2% during the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 91,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,970,000 after buying an additional 56,000 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5,092.4% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 12,306 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 12,069 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 83.3% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 4,496 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 2,043 shares during the period. Finally, HealthInvest Partners AB purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,587,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.85. The stock has a market cap of $52.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 23.56%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.