Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Has $1.50 Million Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 46.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,666 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter worth about $34,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 125.0% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of EW traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $63.04. 7,162,956 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,873,004. The firm has a market cap of $37.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $86.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.84. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $96.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.77, for a total value of $2,487,999.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $380,278.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.77, for a total value of $2,487,999.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $380,278.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian acquired 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,449 shares of company stock valued at $5,168,879 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on EW shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $99.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $102.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

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.