Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 44,338 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 35.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 171,102 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 44,338 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $12,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EW. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,080,845,000 after buying an additional 14,610,123 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,265,633 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,733,270,000 after purchasing an additional 256,538 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,521,147 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $889,050,000 after purchasing an additional 284,918 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,078,311 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $599,078,000 after acquiring an additional 806,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $555,939,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 1.2 %

EW stock traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.73. 2,964,146 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,524,427. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The company has a market cap of $44.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $72.82 and its 200-day moving average is $69.79.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,372 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,489 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,829. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.95.

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.