Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Purchased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 55.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,813,419 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 2,079,642 shares during the period. Edwards Lifesciences comprises about 0.5% of Marshall Wace LLP's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.99% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $430,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EW. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $301,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,484 shares during the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,800,000 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $355,344,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $3,702,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $4,845,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $492,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,555,402. This trade represents a 12.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total transaction of $27,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,569,414.24. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,853 shares of company stock valued at $5,163,062 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EW shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.55.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE EW traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.56. The stock had a trading volume of 3,235,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,927,071. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.85. The company has a market capitalization of $42.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $95.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

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.