Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) Holdings Decreased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation by 68.5%, holding only 6,032 shares worth $437,000 after selling 13,136 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership of Edwards Lifesciences is at 79.46%, with various firms modifying their positions, including Townsquare Capital LLC increasing its stake by 33%.
• Analysts have varied ratings for the stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.90 following recent upgrades from several brokerages.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 68.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,032 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 13,136 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 33.0% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,649 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth about $68,000. NS Partners Ltd raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the first quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 206,299 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $14,953,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 62.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 541,531 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $39,249,000 after acquiring an additional 209,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.1% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,047,264 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,906,000 after acquiring an additional 95,750 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on EW. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 8,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.23, for a total value of $673,308.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 206,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,565,087. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 4,114 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $326,898.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,748,278.92. The trade was a 15.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,134 shares of company stock worth $1,311,745. Insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:EW opened at $78.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.68 and a quick ratio of 3.87. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.00 and a fifty-two week high of $83.00. The stock's 50-day moving average is $77.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.39. The stock has a market cap of $45.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.08.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 72.96%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 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.

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