Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 185,539 Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 185,539 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,779,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,537,494 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,210,879 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,458,601,000 after buying an additional 1,678,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,647,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,007,520,000 after buying an additional 126,194 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,775,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $723,664,000 after acquiring an additional 696,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $610,895,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $69.39 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $95.25. 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 (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on EW. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. This represents a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064 in the last three months. 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.