Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Stock Position Increased by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 114,832 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 8,118 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $10,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,964,394 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,061,277,000 after acquiring an additional 600,994 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 18,973,304 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,813,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,869 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 18,181,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,386,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,048,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,827,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,283,098,000 after purchasing an additional 393,109 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $648,540,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EW has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $110.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $65.03. 796,944 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,006,106. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a current ratio of 3.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.82 and its 200 day moving average is $86.16. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The stock has a market cap of $39.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 5,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.45, for a total value of $508,781.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,764,242.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 5,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.45, for a total value of $508,781.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at $2,764,242.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.54, for a total value of $437,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,108,777.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,242 shares of company stock worth $2,168,470 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Company 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.