4,739 Shares in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation $EW Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp has acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, purchasing 4,739 shares valued at approximately $343,000 during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own 79.46% of Edwards Lifesciences, highlighting significant confidence in the company, with major purchases and stake increases reported by several hedge funds.
• Recent upgrades from analysts include a shift from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, with a consensus target price for the stock set at $85.90.

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,739 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $330,881,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $731,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576,383 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in 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 worth $430,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079,642 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $92,631,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 21.8% in 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 period. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 2,570 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the vice president owned 50,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,897,554.40. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.08, for a total value of $112,620.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 33,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,514,879.68. This represents a 4.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,134 shares of company stock worth $1,311,745 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $78.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,151,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,489,814. The company has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.42. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 52 week low of $64.00 and a 52 week high of $83.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.68, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.49 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 72.96%. Edwards Lifesciences's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.