South Dakota Investment Council Has $19.64 Million Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

South Dakota Investment Council raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 257,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 33,896 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $19,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Operose Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 247.0% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 292.6% during the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 636 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter worth about $66,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on EW. OTR Global upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $1,329,408.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,049,739.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.42, for a total value of $2,712,527.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $414,596.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $1,329,408.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,049,739.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 194,004 shares of company stock valued at $17,166,254. 1.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE EW traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.73. 2,663,641 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,831,539. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $60.57 and a 12 month high of $96.12. The company has a market capitalization of $52.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 3.38 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.62.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 23.56% and a net margin of 23.35%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.