Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lessened its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,833 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,633,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,577,163,000 after acquiring an additional 325,808 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% during 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,357,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $440,446,000 after buying an additional 241,347 shares during the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,100,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $312,625,000 after buying an additional 590,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ownership Capital B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Ownership Capital B.V. now owns 3,489,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $266,106,000 after buying an additional 613,817 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian purchased 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 3,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now owns 39,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,390,542.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian bought 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $85.74 per share, with a total value of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 sold 230,693 shares of company stock valued at $20,310,942. 1.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $85.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.75 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $60.57 and a 12 month high of $96.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $90.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.69.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EW shares. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.27.

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.