Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW)

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 6,871 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 161% compared to the average daily volume of 2,633 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $99.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock traded up $2.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.37. 14,111,391 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,310,790. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $87.98 and its 200 day moving average is $86.84. The stock has a market cap of $37.58 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 3.71. Edwards Lifesciences has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.55% and a return on equity of 22.35%. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.29, for a total value of $466,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $4,378,659.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.29, for a total transaction of $466,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $4,378,659.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 8,617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.68, for a total transaction of $755,538.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,981,354.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 81,099 shares of company stock worth $7,003,553. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors 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.