Simplify Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 80,758 Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 80,758 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,979,000. Edwards Lifesciences makes up about 0.3% of Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $301,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,484 shares during the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,800,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,344,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,702,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $4,845,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EW. Bank of America raised 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 report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $70.46 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The company has a market capitalization of $41.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.42 and a 200-day moving average of $70.37.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released 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 return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences 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 sale, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,303 shares of company stock valued at $3,715,776. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.