Stifel Nicolaus Upgrades Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) to Buy

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EWFree Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $90.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $75.00.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.19.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on EW

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW opened at $72.41 on Thursday. Edwards Lifesciences has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $72.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $185,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,841.12. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 198,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,084,848.66. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,180. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EW. Bowman & Co S.C. boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Seascape Capital Management grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the third quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 32,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Edwards Lifesciences

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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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW)

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