Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Bought by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 797,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 20,073 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned 0.14% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $59,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $610,895,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $555,939,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,117,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537,494 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $314,182,000 after purchasing an additional 3,506,886 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,844,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total value of $645,620.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW opened at $69.39 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.64. The company has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $95.25. 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 (NYSE:EW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. As a group, analysts expect 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.