Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Position Increased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,762,761 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 103,659 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.64% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $278,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,977,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,628 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,563 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seascape Capital Management increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the third quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 32,989 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of EW stock traded down $1.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.36. 5,207,628 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,502,576. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $72.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.38. The firm has a market cap of $41.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total value of $492,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,555,402. This trade represents a 12.16 % decrease in their position. 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 Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $185,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,739 shares of company stock worth $2,799,104. Corporate insiders own 1.29% 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.