ING Groep NV Has $15.40 Million Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

ING Groep NV boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) by 182.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 212,411 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 137,081 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $15,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,072,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,564 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,447,000 after acquiring an additional 12,293 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, First National Trust Co raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 3,704 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 4,114 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total transaction of $326,898.44. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,748,278.92. The trade was a 15.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.08, for a total transaction of $112,620.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 33,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,514,879.68. This trade represents a 4.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,982 shares of company stock valued at $2,193,425 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Argus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.71.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $80.08 on Tuesday. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.41 and a fifty-two week high of $83.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.45 and a quick ratio of 3.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.92.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.96% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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.