Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Stock Position Reduced by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,218 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $3,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EW. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,611 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $700,000. Czech National Bank increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 106,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,361,000 after acquiring an additional 34,487 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 323,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $88.27. 2,682,547 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,808,487. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $60.57 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 3.38 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.69.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on EW shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, OTR Global raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.67, for a total value of $2,543,764.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,801.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.67, for a total transaction of $2,543,764.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,801.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 1,715 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.98, for a total value of $156,030.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,566,038.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 194,004 shares of company stock worth $17,166,254. Company 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.