Wedbush Securities Inc. Reduces Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,808 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,117,845,000 after buying an additional 6,537,494 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,210,879 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,458,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,154 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,647,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,007,520,000 after purchasing an additional 126,194 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,775,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $723,664,000 after buying an additional 696,965 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $610,895,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

NYSE EW opened at $69.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $40.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.66. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $95.25.

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

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.