Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Stake Cut by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 37.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,166,057 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 684,027 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.20% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $86,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EW. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 valued at $2,080,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610,123 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $555,939,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $213,844,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $243,745,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of EW stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.90. 4,513,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,808,657. The company's 50 day moving average price is $71.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.46. 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 has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $95.73.

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 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $797,287.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,387 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,153,526.69. This trade represents a 27.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,553 shares of company stock valued at $4,513,064 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

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.