Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Acquired by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,775,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 696,965 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $723,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,043,484 shares during the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $3,702,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $4,845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $185,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,739 shares of company stock worth $2,799,104. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock opened at $71.61 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.24.

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, 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.