Baillie Gifford & Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. has reduced its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 17.7%, selling 125,355 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 581,441 shares valued at approximately $42 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Edwards Lifesciences, with Morgan Stanley raising its target from $75.00 to $81.00 and Stifel Nicolaus from $90.00 to $95.00, indicating a generally positive outlook.
• Edwards Lifesciences reported a net margin of 72.96% and increased revenue of $1.53 billion for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 581,441 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 125,355 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 0.10% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $42,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $610,895,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 34.3% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,086,033 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $731,036,000 after acquiring an additional 2,576,383 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,813,419 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $430,367,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079,642 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,210,879 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,458,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $92,631,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on EW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Argus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. William Blair raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.71.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE EW traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $81.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,625,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,565,992. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $83.00. The company has a market capitalization of $47.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 4.45, a quick ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $76.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.64.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.05. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.96% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.40, for a total value of $198,918.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 50,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,897,554.40. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.40, for a total transaction of $837,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,057,691.20. This trade represents a 21.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,962 shares of company stock worth $2,641,387 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% 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.