Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Has $363,000 Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 917 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EW. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $301,355,000 after buying an additional 1,043,484 shares in the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 6.7% in 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 buying an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,845,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 478,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,571,000 after acquiring an additional 40,348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 198,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total transaction of $327,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,077,593.52. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,180. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on EW shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.48.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of EW stock opened at $68.98 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.33 and a 200-day moving average of $70.68. The stock has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edwards Lifesciences Company 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.