AIA Group Ltd Purchases 358,556 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 749,524 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 358,556 shares during the period. Edwards Lifesciences comprises approximately 1.3% of AIA Group Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. AIA Group Ltd owned about 0.12% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $49,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,964,394 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,061,277,000 after purchasing an additional 600,994 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,782,909 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,827,347,000 after acquiring an additional 809,605 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 57.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,516,260 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $622,695,000 after buying an additional 2,390,137 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 3,273,416 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $216,013,000 after acquiring an additional 494,604 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.1% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,964,168 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $283,256,000 after acquiring an additional 88,205 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.48. The stock had a trading volume of 2,069,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,626,442. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.18. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $96.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.87.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 70.82%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on EW shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Baird R W cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,084,848.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,084,848.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $87,437.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,051,843.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,250 shares of company stock worth $2,746,988 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

About Edwards Lifesciences

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.