321,335 Shares in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Purchased by Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 321,335 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,856,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW opened at $77.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $45.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $95.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.62. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

Insider Activity

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total transaction of $27,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,569,414.24. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.78, for a total value of $796,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,150,791.86. This represents a 27.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,931 shares of company stock worth $5,148,028. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on EW. StockNews.com raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.60.

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.