Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 216,591 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,169,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 216,591 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.54% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $234,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $3,702,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth about $4,845,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 134,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,945,000 after buying an additional 23,409 shares in the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,499,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,120,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EW shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.60.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of EW opened at $76.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $71.89 and its 200-day moving average is $71.67. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $95.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total value of $27,792.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,569,414.24. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $645,620.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,189,770.56. This represents a 16.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $4,709,454. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.