Premier Fund Managers Ltd Makes New $12.05 Million Investment in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd has acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, purchasing 170,005 shares valued at approximately $12.05 million.
• Analysts recently boosted their price targets for Edwards Lifesciences, with Mizuho and Stifel Nicolaus raising theirs to $95.00, reflecting strong confidence in the company's growth potential.
• Edwards Lifesciences reported earnings per share of $0.67, exceeding expectations and showing an 11.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 170,005 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $12,054,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 34.3% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,086,033 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $731,036,000 after buying an additional 2,576,383 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position 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 valued at $430,367,000 after buying an additional 2,079,642 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 valued at $2,458,601,000 after buying an additional 1,678,154 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at $92,631,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,505,227 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $481,582,000 after buying an additional 1,165,845 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $79.32. 2,040,867 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,581,182. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.41 and a 12-month high of $83.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.45 and a quick ratio of 3.66. The company has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.74.

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

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 2,570 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.40, for a total transaction of $198,918.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 50,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,897,554.40. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.40, for a total value of $837,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,098 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,691.20. This trade represents a 21.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,962 shares of company stock worth $2,641,387 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.71.

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.