First Bank & Trust Increases Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

First Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,363,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,992,709,000 after buying an additional 729,984 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 18,181,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,386,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,048,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,827,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,283,098,000 after purchasing an additional 393,109 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $648,540,000. Finally, Sands Capital Management LLC raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 6,103,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $465,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $1,329,408.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,049,739.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian bought 580 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.74 per share, with a total value of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 3,268 shares in the company, valued at $280,198.32. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $1,329,408.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,049,739.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 127,104 shares of company stock valued at $11,267,464 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EW. Mizuho boosted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.06.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock traded down $0.97 on Friday, reaching $92.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,670,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,666,729. The company has a market capitalization of $55.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $60.57 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.30.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 23.01%. Equities analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

About Edwards Lifesciences

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.