Kennedy Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 192,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,472 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $14,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,117,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537,494 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,210,879 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,458,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,647,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,007,520,000 after buying an additional 126,194 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,775,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $723,664,000 after buying an additional 696,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $610,895,000. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $492,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,555,402. This trade represents a 12.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,853 shares of company stock valued at $4,534,247 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 4.2 %

EW stock opened at $69.86 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $95.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.66.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

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.