First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 66.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270,611 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 108,057 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $20,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.45.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.90. 1,156,044 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,722,634. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.26. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $95.25.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. Edwards Lifesciences's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total value of $645,620.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,189,770.56. This trade represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,853 shares of company stock worth $5,163,062 in the last 90 days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.