Man Group plc Buys 116,528 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Man Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 559,450 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 116,528 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.09% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $41,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,150,791.86. This represents a 27.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $4,613,628.24. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,931 shares of company stock worth $5,148,028. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.60.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $77.04 on Thursday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $95.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $71.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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