Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,522,015 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 254,324 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.26% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $112,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,977,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Bowman & Co S.C. lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 54,589 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,563 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on EW. Evercore ISI dropped 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $428,459.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $797,287.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,153,526.69. The trade was a 27.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,853 shares of company stock worth $4,534,247. Insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,482,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,884,162. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $95.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.67. The company has a market cap of $40.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.