Altshuler Shaham Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 100.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,286 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter valued at $28,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,530.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 29,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,051,843.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,250 shares of company stock worth $1,218,138. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EW has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.82.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $66.83 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.80. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. 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 has a market capitalization of $40.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.13.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.