Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Purchased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,647,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,194 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.31% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $1,007,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,301.36. This represents a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,553 shares of company stock valued at $4,513,064 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EW. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $72.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $42.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $95.25.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.