Great Lakes Advisors LLC Increases Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,341 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $3,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 260.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth $33,000. 79.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total transaction of $115,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,836,725.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.86, for a total value of $2,226,491.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at $340,307.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total value of $115,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,836,725.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,795 shares of company stock valued at $12,724,914 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $67.19 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.02. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $60.57 and a 1-year high of $94.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.45.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.59. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.59% and a return on equity of 24.54%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. Edwards Lifesciences’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on EW. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Monday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.29.

Edwards Lifesciences Company Profile

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease, and critical care and surgical monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of heart valves; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases.