First Merchants Corp Has $5.71 Million Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

First Merchants Corp cut its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,852 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,182 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $5,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,633,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,577,163,000 after buying an additional 325,808 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 20,512,235 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,934,919,000 after buying an additional 66,763 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,434,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,138,575,000 after buying an additional 1,390,427 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 104,971.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,399,249 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,148,938,000 after buying an additional 15,384,593 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 15,133,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,048,424,000 after acquiring an additional 818,849 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $92.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,561,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,581,903. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $60.57 and a 12-month high of $96.12. The company has a market capitalization of $55.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 3.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $88.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.99.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 23.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EW shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $756,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 39,503 shares in the company, valued at $2,989,192.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,506,925.92. The transaction 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 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total transaction of $756,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 39,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,989,192.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,604 shares of company stock worth $16,593,546. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

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.