Vestcor Inc Sells 4,875 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc reduced its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 30.9%, selling 4,875 shares and owning 10,918 shares worth $791,000 at the end of the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Edwards Lifesciences, with Jennison Associates LLC growing its position by 34.3%, now owning over 10 million shares valued at $731 million.
• Analysts have generally rated Edwards Lifesciences with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $85.71, indicating overall optimism for the company's stock performance.

Vestcor Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 30.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,918 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,875 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 8,155,355 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $603,741,000 after acquiring an additional 575,699 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,903,202 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $511,044,000 after purchasing an additional 652,923 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,519,257 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $482,621,000 after purchasing an additional 513,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $481,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,845 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Daiwa America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 4,114 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total transaction of $326,898.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,002 shares in the company, valued at $1,748,278.92. This trade represents a 15.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.08, for a total value of $112,620.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 33,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,514,879.68. The trade was a 4.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,982 shares of company stock worth $2,193,425. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $79.21. 4,047,114 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,089,273. The company has a current ratio of 4.45, a quick ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.01 and a 200 day moving average of $73.92. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a twelve month low of $60.34 and a twelve month high of $83.00.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current 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.