West Coast Financial LLC Sells 9,846 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

West Coast Financial LLC lowered its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,367 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 9,846 shares during the quarter. Edwards Lifesciences comprises approximately 1.1% of West Coast Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. West Coast Financial LLC's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $9,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EW. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.48.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE EW opened at $68.75 on Thursday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $40.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.11.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total value of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares in the company, valued at $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $185,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,841.12. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,500 shares of company stock worth $2,160,800. 1.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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