Kennedy Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,440,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 330,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,603,000 after purchasing an additional 14,087 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 151.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after acquiring an additional 12,112 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 158.2% during the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 91,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,970,000 after acquiring an additional 56,000 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 5,092.4% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 12,306 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 12,069 shares during the period. Finally, HealthInvest Partners AB bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $1,587,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.29, for a total value of $466,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,378,659.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian bought 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.29, for a total value of $466,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,378,659.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,449 shares of company stock valued at $5,168,879 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on EW shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Edwards Lifesciences from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $99.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 0.4 %

EW stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.38. 1,610,846 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,833,667. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.92 and its 200 day moving average is $86.84. The firm has a market cap of $38.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

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.