Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 26,573 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 375,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,573 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.06% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $27,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,080,845,000 after buying an additional 14,610,123 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $610,895,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $555,939,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,117,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $314,182,000 after purchasing an additional 3,506,886 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $72.56 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $95.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.56. The company has a market capitalization of $42.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $797,287.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,153,526.69. This trade represents a 27.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

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.