Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,041 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,855 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $4,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,301.36. The trade was a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total value of $185,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,739 shares of company stock worth $2,799,104. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.3 %

EW stock opened at $71.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $96.12. The stock has a market cap of $42.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $72.64 and its 200 day moving average is $70.24.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.