HM Payson & Co. Has $512,000 Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

HM Payson & Co. lowered its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 312 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW stock opened at $70.36 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.38. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $41.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EW. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total value of $34,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,739 shares of company stock valued at $2,799,104. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

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.