Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 15,014 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 216,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,014 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $16,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% in the 3rd 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $610,895,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $555,939,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $5,117,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $70.90 on Monday. 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 one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $95.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. Analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total transaction of $797,287.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,387 shares in the company, valued at $2,153,526.69. This represents a 27.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. This trade represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus 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.