Merit Financial Group LLC Reduces Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Merit Financial Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 33.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,049 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Operose Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 247.0% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 292.6% during the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 636 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $85.09 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $90.05 and a 200 day moving average of $79.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 3.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.10. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 23.01%. As a group, research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $1,212,624.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,639,824.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian acquired 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $1,212,624.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,849 shares in the company, valued at $14,639,824.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 230,693 shares of company stock valued at $20,310,942 over the last 90 days. 1.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EW shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.27.

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.