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

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 239,639 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $22,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EW. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter valued at $28,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 1.7 %

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $68.25 on Thursday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a current ratio of 3.71.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.55% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.81.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares in the company, valued at $2,051,843.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total transaction of $330,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,218,138 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

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.