B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 80,358 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $5,303,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 46.9% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 81,111 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,353,000 after acquiring an additional 25,886 shares during the period. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,290,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $406,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,788,600 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $118,030,000 after acquiring an additional 8,300 shares during the period. Finally, S&CO Inc. raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 24.5% in the third quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 61,555 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,062,000 after acquiring an additional 12,120 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 1.7 %

EW stock traded down $1.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.99. The stock had a trading volume of 1,057,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,639,172. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.91. The company has a market capitalization of $40.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.67. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.77, for a total transaction of $333,850.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,133,916.72. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,084,848.66. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,657,000. Insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Baird R W lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays decreased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Edwards Lifesciences from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.67.

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.