Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 69.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 6,271 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective 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. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $428,459.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064 in the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE EW opened at $69.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $95.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.56 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.