Rhumbline Advisers Sells 37,002 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,085,905 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 37,002 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.18% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $80,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $693,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 36.1% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 3,019 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter valued at about $273,000. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $437,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,049 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of EW stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $74.71. 2,517,532 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,465,477. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The stock's fifty day moving average is $72.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.82. The company has a market cap of $44.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total value of $34,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,489 shares of company stock worth $2,002,829 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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.