Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Position Increased by Townsend & Associates Inc

Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 110.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 160,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,306 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $11,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,633,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,577,163,000 after purchasing an additional 325,808 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,434,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,138,575,000 after buying an additional 1,390,427 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,357,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $440,446,000 after acquiring an additional 241,347 shares during the period. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,100,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $312,625,000 after purchasing an additional 590,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ownership Capital B.V. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Ownership Capital B.V. now owns 3,489,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $266,106,000 after purchasing an additional 613,817 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.59, for a total value of $620,955.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,543.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.59, for a total value of $620,955.45. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,543.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total transaction of $944,130.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 39,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,390,542.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 230,693 shares of company stock worth $20,310,942 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.27.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW traded up $2.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $87.38. 1,334,492 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,685,752. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.05 and a 200 day moving average of $79.69. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $60.57 and a twelve month high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Edwards Lifesciences Company 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.