Baxter Bros Inc. Raises Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Baxter Bros Inc. raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,824 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $6,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $406,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,856 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,282 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 8,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at about $303,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. The trade was a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total value of $492,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,555,402. This trade represents a 12.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,303 shares of company stock valued at $3,715,776. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of EW opened at $71.43 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The stock has a market cap of $41.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.42.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

About Edwards Lifesciences

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.