Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $278.56 Million Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,762,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 103,659 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $278,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,156,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seascape Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the third quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 32,989 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $72.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $96.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.45 and a 200-day moving average of $70.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.78, for a total transaction of $796,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,150,791.86. This represents a 27.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,739 shares of company stock valued at $2,799,104. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company 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.