Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Position Lessened by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 316,921 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 13,472 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $23,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,080,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610,123 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,265,633 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,733,270,000 after buying an additional 256,538 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,521,147 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $889,050,000 after acquiring an additional 284,918 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,078,311 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $599,078,000 after acquiring an additional 806,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $555,939,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of EW stock traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $74.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,964,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,524,427. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $96.12. The company has a market capitalization of $44.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $72.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.79.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total value of $185,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,489 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,829. Insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EW shares. Daiwa America downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.95.

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.