TCW Group Inc. Invests $1.69 Million in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 22,865 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EW. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,080,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610,123 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth about $555,939,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $314,182,000 after purchasing an additional 3,506,886 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 239.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,693,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,745,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $109,490,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW opened at $72.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.13. 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 company has a market capitalization of $42.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. This represents a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total value 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 $1,594,475.64. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,489 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,829. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.