Insider Selling: Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) SVP Sells 268 Shares of Stock

Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) SVP Wayne Markowitz sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.08, for a total transaction of $20,121.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,168.92. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $73.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $71.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $95.25.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 116.1% during the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 402 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 102.5% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.45.

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.