Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Sold by 2Xideas AG

2Xideas AG cut its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 177,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 46,786 shares during the period. Edwards Lifesciences accounts for 1.8% of 2Xideas AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. 2Xideas AG’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $13,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 816.4% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 8,642 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 66,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,886,000 after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,522,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $112,688,000 after buying an additional 254,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 797,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $59,070,000 after buying an additional 20,073 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value 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 trade represents a 27.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upgraded 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 research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $69.39 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $95.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.74 and its 200-day moving average is $70.64.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.