Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Sold by Sit Investment Associates Inc.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 50.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,850 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,900 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 797,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $59,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20,073 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $13,779,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 844,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,483,000 after acquiring an additional 81,144 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 213,369 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EW shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,106,859.33. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,553 shares of company stock valued at $4,513,064. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $69.39 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $95.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.