Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,158,750 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 99,212 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.20% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $85,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at $481,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,788,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $118,030,000 after buying an additional 8,300 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at $406,000. Finally, W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at $7,290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on EW. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW opened at $70.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.35.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. Equities analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $852,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. The trade was a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,303 shares of company stock worth $3,715,776. 1.29% 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.