Rathbones Group PLC Increases Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,299,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,192 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $96,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EW. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total transaction of $797,287.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,153,526.69. The trade was a 27.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total value of $492,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,555,402. This trade represents a 12.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $69.39 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $40.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.66. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $95.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. On average, analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EW shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

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.