Heritage Trust Co Invests $205,000 in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Heritage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 25.8% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 192,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,252,000 after purchasing an additional 39,472 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 324,376 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $24,014,000 after acquiring an additional 16,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $1,118,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $428,459.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,106,859.33. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 62,853 shares of company stock worth $4,534,247. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of EW stock opened at $69.32 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $95.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.55.

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.