RiverPark Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

RiverPark Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Edwards Lifesciences makes up approximately 1.1% of RiverPark Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. RiverPark Advisors LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EW. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,173,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1,660.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 72,277 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,770,000 after acquiring an additional 68,172 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 147.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 9,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 5,420 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.8% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 7,012 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,532 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.55.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $70.33 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.94. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $95.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total value of $492,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,555,402. This represents a 12.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total value of $27,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,569,414.24. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,853 shares of company stock valued at $5,163,062. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.