Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 3,753 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Plato Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 45.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,753 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 57.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,516,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $622,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,137 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $124,511,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,782,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,827,347,000 after purchasing an additional 809,605 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,964,394 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,061,277,000 after purchasing an additional 600,994 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 3,273,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,013,000 after purchasing an additional 494,604 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares in the company, valued at $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.77, for a total transaction of $333,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,916.72. The trade was a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,250 shares of company stock worth $2,744,438. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock opened at $67.76 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.42 and a 200 day moving average of $76.37. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on EW. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.67.

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.