Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Key Points

• Q1 EPS beat: Edwards reported $0.78 EPS, beating consensus by $0.05, with a return on equity of 14.5% and a net margin of 17.69%.
• Shares slid $1.84 to $79.69 on heavy volume; the stock has a market cap of $45.95 billion, a P/E of 43.55 and a 52-week range of $72.30–$87.89.
• Wall Street sentiment is a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target of $95.74, and several firms (Wells Fargo, Piper Sandler, Evercore) recently issued overweight/outperform ratings with targets up to $100.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The medical research company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 14.50% and a net margin of 17.69%.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $79.69. The company had a trading volume of 6,120,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,667,920. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52-week low of $72.30 and a 52-week high of $87.89. The company has a quick ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.55, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $94.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $98.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 target price on Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $94.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.04, for a total transaction of $1,040,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 39,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,507.96. This represents a 24.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.98, for a total value of $82,518.62. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 33,934 shares in the company, valued at $2,747,975.32. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 86,058 shares of company stock worth $7,118,636. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EW. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 278.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,584,646 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $434,318,000 after purchasing an additional 4,108,270 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter worth approximately $238,688,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 66.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,925,627 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $505,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,128 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 147.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,126,755 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $181,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $99,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

About Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences is a medical technology company focused on products and therapies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. The company designs, develops and manufactures prosthetic heart valves and related delivery systems used in both surgical and minimally invasive (transcatheter) procedures. Its portfolio addresses a range of valvular conditions, with an emphasis on technologies that enable transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as an alternative to open-heart surgery.

In addition to transcatheter heart valves—including the widely recognized SAPIEN family—Edwards offers surgical tissue valves and ancillary devices used by cardiac surgeons, interventional cardiologists and hospital teams.

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