Royal Bank of Canada Has $169.36 Million Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,287,681 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 315,968 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $169,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $77.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.08 and a 200-day moving average of $71.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $95.25.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.60.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.48, for a total transaction of $27,792.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,569,414.24. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 5,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $447,961.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,366,054.44. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $4,709,454. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.