Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation $EW

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group cut its Edwards Lifesciences stake by 59.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 36,911 shares and leaving it with 25,589 shares worth about $2.18 million.
• Edwards Lifesciences reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.78 versus $0.73 expected and revenue of $1.65 billion versus $1.60 billion expected. Revenue rose 16.7% year over year.
• The stock was up 2.1% to $87.58, while analysts remain generally positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $95.65.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 59.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,589 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 36,911 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,301 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 32,196 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,504,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,304 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,136 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Florida Trust Wealth Management Co raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 8,810 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of EW opened at $87.58 on Wednesday. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a one year low of $72.30 and a one year high of $87.93. The company has a market cap of $50.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.42 and a quick ratio of 3.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.94.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 15.19%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Edwards Lifesciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.700-0.760 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 22,680 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.16, for a total transaction of $1,818,028.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 21,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,682.56. This represents a 51.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,177,507.96. This trade represents a 24.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 82,684 shares of company stock worth $6,799,579 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EW shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $98.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho set a $95.00 price target on Edwards Lifesciences and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.65.

Edwards Lifesciences Profile

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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