TCW Group Inc. Has $1.99 Million Position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation by 20% in the first quarter, bringing their total shares to 27,440, valued at approximately $1.99 million.
• Edwards Lifesciences stock price rose by 2.3%, reaching $80.29, with a market capitalization of $47.10 billion.
• Analysts have upgraded their ratings on Edwards Lifesciences, with a consensus target price of $85.71 and a majority recommending a "buy" or "strong buy" rating.

TCW Group Inc. raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 20.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,440 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 4,575 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,195 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $49,038,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.4% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 15,506 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 13.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 77,016 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,582,000 after acquiring an additional 9,188 shares during the period. Finally, Advanced Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $328,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,479,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,578,038. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $83.00. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $76.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.74. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.11.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Edwards Lifesciences's revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 8,950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.23, for a total value of $673,308.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 206,900 shares in the company, valued at $15,565,087. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 41,098 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,691.20. This represents a 21.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,962 shares of company stock worth $2,641,387. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.