Prudential PLC Boosts Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,035 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $14,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,964,394 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,061,277,000 after acquiring an additional 600,994 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,782,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,827,347,000 after acquiring an additional 809,605 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 18,181,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,386,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,048,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,827,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,283,098,000 after acquiring an additional 393,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $648,540,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 1.6 %

EW opened at $65.71 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.26 and its 200-day moving average is $83.98. The company has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a current ratio of 3.71. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $91.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total transaction of $330,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $87,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,051,843.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,250 shares of company stock worth $1,321,988 over the last 90 days. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.