OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Boosts Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 39.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,760 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,760 shares during the period. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total transaction of $27,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,569,414.24. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 6,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,555,402. The trade was a 12.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,681 shares of company stock worth $6,492,703 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.60.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $75.48 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $71.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Edwards Lifesciences 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.