Brokerages Set Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Target Price at $92.71

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $92.71.

Several research firms have commented on EW. OTR Global upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "mixed" rating to a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.59, for a total transaction of $620,955.45. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,632,543.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Heisz Leslie Stone sold 7,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.45, for a total value of $609,991.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,980 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,421. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.59, for a total value of $620,955.45. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,632,543.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 237,749 shares of company stock worth $20,920,934. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.6% in the first quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,803 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter worth approximately $12,163,000. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 8.4% in the first quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 11,051 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 8.6% in the first quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 20,436 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,156,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

EW stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.25. 2,327,197 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,001,614. The company has a market cap of $51.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.10. Edwards Lifesciences has a 12-month low of $60.57 and a 12-month high of $96.12. The stock's 50 day moving average is $90.08 and its 200 day moving average is $79.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.75 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 23.01%. On average, research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.77 EPS 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.