Natixis Raises Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Natixis grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 84.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 246,211 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 112,637 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $18,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EW. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 54,589 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pegasus Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $71.56 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.88. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $95.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. The company has a market cap of $42.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.55.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,083 shares in the company, valued at $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 71,853 shares of company stock worth $5,163,062. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

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.