Ninety One North America Inc. Trims Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Ninety One North America Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) by 7.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 327,714 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 26,289 shares during the quarter. Edwards Lifesciences accounts for about 1.6% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $23,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EW. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $49,038,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 15,506 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 77,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,582,000 after acquiring an additional 9,188 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth about $5,979,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 786.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.23, for a total value of $673,308.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 206,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,565,087. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.40, for a total value of $837,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,691.20. This trade represents a 21.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,648 shares of company stock valued at $2,998,866. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.20.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 0.3%

EW stock opened at $76.77 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $45.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 4.45, a quick ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $95.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.27.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 75.48% and a return on equity of 16.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.