Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Acquired by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 251,205 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,027 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $18,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,303 shares of company stock worth $3,715,776. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EW shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $70.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.