North Star Asset Management Inc. Raises Position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) by 34.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,564 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 12,293 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $3,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 116.1% in the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 402 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 102.5% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 405 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.40, for a total transaction of $837,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 41,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,057,691.20. This represents a 21.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 4,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $326,898.44. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,748,278.92. This represents a 15.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,962 shares of company stock worth $2,641,387 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:EW opened at $80.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.41 and a 52-week high of $83.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $76.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.64. The company has a quick ratio of 3.66, a current ratio of 4.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 72.96%. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EW. Mizuho boosted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.71.

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.