Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) was downgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $70.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $85.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.07% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on EW. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.82.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW opened at $67.26 on Wednesday. Edwards Lifesciences has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $96.12. 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 stock has a market cap of $40.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.00.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.77, for a total value of $333,850.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,916.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,051,843.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.77, for a total value of $333,850.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,916.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,250 shares of company stock worth $1,218,138 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EW. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.