Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Cuts Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation by 49.9% in the first quarter, holding 254,164 shares valued at approximately $18.42 million after selling 253,605 shares.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their positions in Edwards Lifesciences, with 79.46% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors, indicating strong market confidence.
• Edwards Lifesciences reported earnings of $0.67 EPS, surpassing analyst expectations, with quarterly revenue of $1.53 billion, a rise of 11.9% year-over-year.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 49.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 254,164 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 253,605 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $18,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EW. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 11,092 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,136 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,698 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,195 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EW. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank raised Edwards Lifesciences to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, William Blair raised Edwards Lifesciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.71.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.30. The stock had a trading volume of 3,152,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,898,219. The firm has a market cap of $46.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $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. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $83.00.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 72.96%. The business's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.40, for a total value of $837,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,057,691.20. This represents a 21.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.40, for a total value of $198,918.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 50,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,897,554.40. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,962 shares of company stock valued at $2,641,387. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by 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.