Northern Trust Corp Buys 1,165,845 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,505,227 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,165,845 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.10% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $481,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EW. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,977,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Bowman & Co S.C. raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 54,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,083 shares in the company, valued at $4,106,859.33. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.81, for a total transaction of $663,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,295,450.86. This represents a 16.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,853 shares of company stock worth $5,163,062. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on EW. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.45.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.57. 3,286,833 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,018,710. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $95.25. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.31.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.