Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02, reports. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 23.34%.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW traded down $1.58 on Friday, reaching $86.43. 4,979,943 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,883,164. Edwards Lifesciences has a fifty-two week low of $60.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 3.38. The firm has a market cap of $52.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total value of $2,311,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 34,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,774.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total transaction of $2,311,740.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 34,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,774.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total transaction of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,506,925.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 194,004 shares of company stock valued at $17,166,254. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $648,540,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 440.0% during the 3rd quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 3,510,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,173,000 after purchasing an additional 2,860,000 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 197.0% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,446,758 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $262,815,000 after purchasing an additional 2,286,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $168,519,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.33.

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.