Vident Advisory LLC Boosts Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 2,938.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 295,383 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 285,661 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $21,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $610,895,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $555,939,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,117,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537,494 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,844,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,813,419 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $430,367,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079,642 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.78, for a total value of $796,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,387 shares in the company, valued at $2,150,791.86. This represents a 27.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,692 shares of company stock worth $4,822,074 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock traded down $1.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $74.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,287,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,134,487. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $95.25. The company has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $72.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.20.

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.