HM Payson & Co. Sells 312 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

HM Payson & Co. reduced its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 312 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,080,845,000 after acquiring an additional 14,610,123 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $555,939,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $314,182,000 after acquiring an additional 3,506,886 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $213,844,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 239.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,693,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,745,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606,950 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $70.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. This trade represents a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total value of $185,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,739 shares of company stock worth $2,799,104 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.29% 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.