Edwards Lifesciences’ (EW) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on EW. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Edwards Lifesciences from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $105.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut Edwards Lifesciences from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $75.77.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock opened at $68.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.97. The company has a market cap of $41.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.13. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,530.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $87,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,051,843.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,250 shares of company stock worth $751,688. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clarity Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $434,000. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $945,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 11,047 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $13,724,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 140.2% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.