Insider Selling: Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) CFO Sells 11,250 Shares of Stock

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total transaction of $797,287.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,153,526.69. This represents a 27.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

EW stock opened at $71.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.46.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. Equities research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edwards Lifesciences

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at $30,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

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.