Leavell Investment Management Inc. Sells 6,450 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. cut its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 65.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,450 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Wealth Services raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 4,783 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 73,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,407,000 after buying an additional 7,154 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $76.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.10. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.41.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. Analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,489 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,829 over the last ninety days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.