CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Trims Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co decreased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 675,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 40,922 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $50,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EW. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 80.1% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 762,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $56,466,000 after purchasing an additional 339,299 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $910,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,813,419 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,367,000 after buying an additional 2,079,642 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 104,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 14,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 64.8% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,859 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 9,779 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total value of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,189,770.56. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,853 shares of company stock valued at $5,163,062. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.55.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $71.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.80. 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 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $95.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15.

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

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.