Schroder Investment Management Group Takes Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 96,655 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,080,845,000 after buying an additional 14,610,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $610,895,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth about $555,939,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,117,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $314,182,000 after purchasing an additional 3,506,886 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total transaction of $27,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,569,414.24. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $797,287.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,387 shares in the company, valued at $2,153,526.69. The trade was a 27.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 4.9 %

EW opened at $69.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $95.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.74 and a 200-day moving average of $70.62.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

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.