Amundi Cuts Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Amundi decreased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,321,197 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 161,211 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.56% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $246,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,080,845,000 after acquiring an additional 14,610,123 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $555,939,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $314,182,000 after buying an additional 3,506,886 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,844,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 239.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,693,663 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $243,745,000 after buying an additional 2,606,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,303 shares of company stock worth $3,255,356 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI decreased 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 note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

NYSE:EW traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.52. The company had a trading volume of 4,453,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,501,923. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $71.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.34. The company has a market capitalization of $40.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. As a group, research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current 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.