WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST Raises Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,800,000 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the quarter. Edwards Lifesciences accounts for 4.3% of WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST owned 0.81% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $355,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,080,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610,123 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 239.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,693,663 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $243,745,000 after buying an additional 2,606,950 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $301,355,000 after buying an additional 1,043,484 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 806,705 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,628,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded down $2.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $71.25. 2,460,881 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,717,260. The company's 50-day moving average price is $71.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.92. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The business's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $347,550.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total value of $185,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,841.12. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,508,350 over the last quarter. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EW. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $85.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.40.

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.