Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 79.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,996 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 31,187 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EW. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,739 shares of company stock worth $2,799,104. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $71.38 on Wednesday. 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 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $96.12. The company has a market cap of $42.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.50 and its 200-day moving average is $70.33.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. Equities analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EW. Barclays upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

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.