Empower Advisory Group LLC Purchases 69,685 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 775,563 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 69,685 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.13% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $57,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Seascape Capital Management raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in 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 period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,466 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,301.36. This represents a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,489 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,829. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays upped 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

NYSE:EW traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,843,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,417,774. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.94. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $96.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. Analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.