Nordea Investment Management AB Raises Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,043,484 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $301,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 478,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,571,000 after acquiring an additional 40,348 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 91.7% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 749,524 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $49,461,000 after purchasing an additional 358,556 shares in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 20,639 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 7,583 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 81,111 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,353,000 after buying an additional 25,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 36,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,394,000 after buying an additional 10,492 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 1.8 %

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $73.91 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.51. The company has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total value of $185,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total transaction of $327,850.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,077,593.52. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,508,350. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.40.

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.