Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) had its price target reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $101.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Edwards Lifesciences from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $73.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $62.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.99. Edwards Lifesciences has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 3.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.58 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.77, for a total value of $2,487,999.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $380,278.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian purchased 580 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 3,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.77, for a total value of $2,487,999.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at $380,278.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 81,099 shares of company stock valued at $7,003,553 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,964,394 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,061,277,000 after buying an additional 600,994 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,782,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,827,347,000 after purchasing an additional 809,605 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 18,181,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,386,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,048,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,827,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,283,098,000 after purchasing an additional 393,109 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $648,540,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.