Great Lakes Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,341 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $3,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,556 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,127,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Geller Advisors LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.1% in the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 11,410 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 18.3% in the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 839 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.25% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of EW stock opened at $67.19 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $68.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.45. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $60.57 and a 1-year high of $94.87.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.59% and a return on equity of 24.54%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.66, for a total transaction of $454,598.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,079.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 8,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.30, for a total value of $565,498.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 213,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,960,748.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.66, for a total transaction of $454,598.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,079.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 179,795 shares of company stock valued at $12,724,914. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on EW. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Monday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Monday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.29.

Edwards Lifesciences Profile

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease, and critical care and surgical monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of heart valves; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases.