Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Raised to “Outperform” at Daiwa Capital Markets

Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on EW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Edwards Lifesciences from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered Edwards Lifesciences from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research raised Edwards Lifesciences from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

EW opened at $60.79 on Wednesday. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The stock has a market cap of $36.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $85.32 and a 200 day moving average of $86.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 5,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.45, for a total transaction of $508,781.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,764,242.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian bought 580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $280,198.32. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 5,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.45, for a total value of $508,781.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,764,242.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,099 shares of company stock worth $2,680,879. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EW. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 17.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 237,871 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $21,452,000 after purchasing an additional 34,635 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.7% during the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,920,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 6,016.7% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the second quarter worth approximately $524,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 3,295.5% during the second quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 747 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.