Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV lowered its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,235 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $5,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total value of $34,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,489 shares of company stock worth $2,002,829 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $73.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.94. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict 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.