Eagle Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 38.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,282 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,346 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,440,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 80.4% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 21,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,013,000 after acquiring an additional 9,390 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 15,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 54.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,890,000 after acquiring an additional 10,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Shipley& Co Ltd bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth $3,204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 1.1 %

EW stock opened at $71.26 on Tuesday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.74 and its 200 day moving average is $75.48. The stock has a market cap of $42.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EW. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.77, for a total value of $333,850.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,133,916.72. The trade was a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total value of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,657,000. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

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.