Vanguard Group Inc. Has $5.12 Billion Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,537,494 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $5,117,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $301,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,484 shares in the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,800,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $355,344,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,702,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,845,000. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $70.46 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. 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 $96.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $71.42 and its 200-day moving average is $70.38.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total value of $27,792.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,588 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,414.24. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. The trade was a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,303 shares of company stock valued at $3,715,776. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

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.