Versant Capital Management Inc Grows Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 102.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of EW. IMPACTfolio LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 817,516 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,948,000 after purchasing an additional 17,647 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 14,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 4,605 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,196,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $83,282,000 after buying an additional 27,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 108.0% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 293,758 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,385,000 after acquiring an additional 152,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.40.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $73.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.67. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total value of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,084,848.66. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total transaction of $327,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,077,593.52. This represents a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,508,350 over the last 90 days. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.