AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 604,573 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lessened its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,668,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 604,573 shares during the period. Edwards Lifesciences comprises about 0.9% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $197,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bowman & Co S.C. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Seascape Capital Management raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the third quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 32,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EW. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:EW opened at $75.96 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $96.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.36. The stock has a market cap of $44.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced 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 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,315,301.36. This trade represents a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,555,402. The trade was a 12.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,750 shares of company stock worth $1,564,255. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

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.