AMF Tjanstepension AB Reduces Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

AMF Tjanstepension AB decreased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 36.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,727 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 71,305 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $12,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,363,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,992,709,000 after acquiring an additional 729,984 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 18,181,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,386,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,048,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 393,109 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $648,540,000. Finally, Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 6,103,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $465,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567,526 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of EW stock opened at $92.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 3.75.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 23.01%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian acquired 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,268 shares in the company, valued at $280,198.32. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.42, for a total transaction of $2,712,527.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,486 shares in the company, valued at $414,596.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian purchased 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $280,198.32. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 127,104 shares of company stock worth $11,267,464. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on EW shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.06.

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.