Probity Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Probity Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,981 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $797,287.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,387 shares in the company, valued at $2,153,526.69. This represents a 27.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares in the company, valued at $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,442 shares of company stock valued at $4,025,799 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EW shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $80.20.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $78.09. 9,048,502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,196,842. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $95.25. The business's 50-day moving average is $73.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.50.

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