South Dakota Investment Council Grows Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 257,600 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 33,896 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $19,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EW. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 440.0% in the third quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 3,510,000 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $243,173,000 after buying an additional 2,860,000 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $168,519,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1,224.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,610,412 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $123,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,791 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,434,401 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,138,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,427 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 61.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,111,385 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $215,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,506,925.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,506,925.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.42, for a total value of $2,712,527.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $414,596.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 194,004 shares of company stock worth $17,166,254. 1.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $87.73. 2,663,641 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,831,539. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $52.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.05. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $60.57 and a 12-month high of $96.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.18 and a 200 day moving average of $78.62.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 23.56%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.73.

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.

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