Merit Financial Group LLC Has $782,000 Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 93.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,793 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,212 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $782,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth about $610,895,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,117,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537,494 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $213,844,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,813,419 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $430,367,000 after buying an additional 2,079,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% during 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 buying an additional 1,678,154 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EW shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $80.20.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $797,287.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,387 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,153,526.69. The trade was a 27.02% 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, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.81, for a total value of $663,195.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 47,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,295,450.86. The trade was a 16.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,948 shares of company stock worth $3,122,845. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW stock traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $75.86. 2,851,331 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,212,041. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $95.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. Edwards Lifesciences's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.