Lincoln National Corp Sells 169 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Lincoln National Corp decreased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $168,519,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1,224.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,610,412 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $123,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,791 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,434,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,138,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,427 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 61.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,111,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $215,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $60,971,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,543,764.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,801.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.67, for a total value of $2,543,764.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at $388,801.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total transaction of $944,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 39,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,390,542.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 231,550 shares of company stock valued at $20,384,302 in the last ninety days. 1.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EW. StockNews.com raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, OTR Global raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.27.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 2.7 %

EW opened at $87.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.03 and a 200 day moving average of $79.73. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $60.57 and a 12 month high of $96.12. The firm has a market cap of $52.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 22.86%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current 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.