Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,889 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 58,516 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $12,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 57.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,516,260 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $622,695,000 after buying an additional 2,390,137 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth $124,511,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 4.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,782,909 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,827,347,000 after acquiring an additional 809,605 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 17.8% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 3,273,416 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $216,013,000 after acquiring an additional 494,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 422.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 450,233 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,711,000 after purchasing an additional 364,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $69.54 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $67.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $96.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on EW. StockNews.com lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $347,550.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,262,521.36. This represents a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,657,000 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

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.