Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 332,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,534 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $24,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,980 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 6,076 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 930,933 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $68,917,000 after buying an additional 181,409 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,210,879 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,458,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678,154 shares during the period. Finally, Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth about $858,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of EW stock opened at $73.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.15. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $95.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.62.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. Equities research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. The trade was a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $797,287.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,153,526.69. This trade represents a 27.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.95.

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.