662,405 Shares in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Purchased by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 662,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,038,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on EW shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.45.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock opened at $75.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.33. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $95.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.75, for a total transaction of $492,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,555,402. This trade represents a 12.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $428,459.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,853 shares of company stock worth $5,163,062. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.