Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,410 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,250 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $8,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,080,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610,123 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,265,633 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,733,270,000 after purchasing an additional 256,538 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,521,147 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $889,050,000 after purchasing an additional 284,918 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,775,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $723,664,000 after purchasing an additional 696,965 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $555,939,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE EW opened at $72.89 on Thursday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $42.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.35.

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

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.78, for a total transaction of $796,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,150,791.86. This represents a 27.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $492,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,555,402. The trade was a 12.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,739 shares of company stock valued at $2,799,104. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on 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. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

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.