Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 257,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,649 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $19,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EW. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $168,519,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1,224.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,610,412 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $123,261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488,791 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,434,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,138,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,427 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 61.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,111,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $215,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter worth about $60,971,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on EW. OTR Global raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $1,212,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,849 shares in the company, valued at $14,639,824.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.67, for a total value of $2,543,764.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,801.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $1,212,624.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,639,824.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,749 shares of company stock worth $20,920,934 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 0.2 %

EW stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $85.09. 2,438,926 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,757,333. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $90.06 and its 200-day moving average is $79.58. The company has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $60.57 and a 52-week high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 22.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.