Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 1,601,121 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the previous session’s volume of 3,683,971 shares.The stock last traded at $60.88 and had previously closed at $59.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EW shares. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 3.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.93. The company has a market capitalization of $37.43 billion, a PE ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.11.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 24.55%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $1,212,624.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,639,824.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $1,212,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,639,824.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total transaction of $622,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,636,549.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 81,099 shares of company stock worth $7,003,553. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 23,484 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP now owns 25,490 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,944,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. City State Bank lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 16.5% during the second quarter. City State Bank now owns 917 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 8,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 771 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

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.