Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Rating Increased to Hold at Dbs Bank

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Dbs Bank to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

EW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.20.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $77.56. 2,633,909 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,193,909. The company's 50 day moving average is $73.87 and its 200 day moving average is $72.69. Edwards Lifesciences has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $95.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Edwards Lifesciences's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $428,459.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total transaction of $27,792.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,588 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,414.24. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,012 shares of company stock valued at $4,224,717 over the last quarter. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,117,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537,494 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,210,879 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,458,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,154 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,647,341 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,007,520,000 after purchasing an additional 126,194 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 34.3% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,086,033 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $731,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,775,276 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $723,664,000 after purchasing an additional 696,965 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is 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.