Townsend & Associates Inc Grows Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 110.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 84,306 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $11,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,633,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,577,163,000 after purchasing an additional 325,808 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,434,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,138,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,427 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,357,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $440,446,000 after purchasing an additional 241,347 shares in the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,100,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $312,625,000 after purchasing an additional 590,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ownership Capital B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Ownership Capital B.V. now owns 3,489,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $266,106,000 after buying an additional 613,817 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian bought 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.74 per share, with a total value of $49,729.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 3,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert W.A. Sellers sold 12,210 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.00, for a total transaction of $1,062,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,569. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian bought 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 230,693 shares of company stock valued at $20,310,942. 1.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW traded up $2.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $87.38. 1,334,492 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,685,752. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.10. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $60.57 and a 1 year high of $96.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EW shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. OTR Global upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.27.

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.