Altium Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Altium Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 165,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 57,000 shares during the quarter. Edwards Lifesciences accounts for about 3.5% of Altium Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Altium Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $12,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $301,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,484 shares during the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,800,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,344,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,702,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.55.

Insider Activity

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,315,301.36. This trade represents a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $492,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,555,402. This represents a 12.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,853 shares of company stock valued at $5,163,062 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW stock opened at $71.29 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $41.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $95.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.76.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share 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.