AIA Group Ltd Acquires 181,409 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 930,933 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 181,409 shares during the quarter. Edwards Lifesciences makes up about 1.7% of AIA Group Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. AIA Group Ltd owned about 0.16% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $68,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter worth $30,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 0.4 %

EW opened at $70.90 on Monday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $95.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.49 and a 200-day moving average of $70.53. The stock has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17, 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 (NYSE:EW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,315,301.36. This trade represents a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.