AIA Group Ltd Boosts Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 749,524 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 358,556 shares during the quarter. Edwards Lifesciences makes up 1.3% of AIA Group Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $49,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 206.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 484 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 198,526 shares in the company, valued at $13,084,848.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total transaction of $330,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total value of $1,647,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 198,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,250 shares of company stock worth $2,746,988 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW opened at $65.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.18. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 70.82%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Edwards Lifesciences from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.67.

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.