Natixis Acquires 112,637 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Natixis boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 84.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,211 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 112,637 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $18,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $610,895,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $555,939,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,117,845,000 after buying an additional 6,537,494 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $314,182,000 after acquiring an additional 3,506,886 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,844,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. The trade was a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $428,459.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,853 shares of company stock worth $5,163,062. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

EW traded up $4.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $75.15. 11,705,304 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,975,213. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.94. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $95.25. The company has a market cap of $44.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EW. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.25.

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.