ACT Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

ACT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 2,720 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 29.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 13,295 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after buying an additional 3,049 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 14.8% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 7.2% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 88,565 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,181,000 after purchasing an additional 5,944 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 32,257.1% during the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 6,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 42.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 932 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW opened at $69.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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. The trade was a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,084,848.66. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,180. 1.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EW shares. 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.48.

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.