Palisade Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Palisade Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,245 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Operose Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 247.0% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 292.6% in the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 636 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total value of $944,130.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 39,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,390,542.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 on 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 owns 39,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,390,542.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian purchased 580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 237,749 shares of company stock worth $20,920,934 in the last 90 days. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of EW traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $85.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,836,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,735,495. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $60.57 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.69. The stock has a market cap of $51.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 22.86%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on EW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.27.

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.