Amiral Gestion Purchases Shares of 91,292 Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Amiral Gestion acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 91,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,757,000. Edwards Lifesciences makes up about 4.3% of Amiral Gestion’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $610,895,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $555,939,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,117,845,000 after buying an additional 6,537,494 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $213,844,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,813,419 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $430,367,000 after buying an additional 2,079,642 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $74.98 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $95.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76, a PEG 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. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,189,770.56. The trade was a 16.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.08, for a total value of $112,620.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 33,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,514,879.68. This trade represents a 4.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,692 shares of company stock worth $4,822,074 over the last ninety days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on EW. Barclays boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.20.

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.