Edwards Lifesciences Corporation $EW Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) by 649.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 296,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 257,180 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $25,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the second quarter valued at about $5,318,092,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter worth about $1,274,082,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter worth about $605,397,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter worth about $516,552,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.6% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,488,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,503,000 after purchasing an additional 30,495 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $105.98 on Thursday. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 52 week low of $74.66 and a 52 week high of $106.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.09. The company has a quick ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 4.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $60.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.85.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical research company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.06. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Daniel Lippis sold 619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.25, for a total transaction of $64,530.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 40,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,173,544.50. The trade was a 1.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Annette Brüls sold 2,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total transaction of $237,907.12. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,618,200.32. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 53,945 shares of company stock valued at $5,498,306 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.56.

Edwards Lifesciences Profile

Edwards Lifesciences is a medical technology company focused on therapies for structural heart disease and critical care. Its products include transcatheter and surgical heart valves, as well as technologies used to monitor patients during intensive care and surgery. The company traces its origins to 1958, when engineer Lowell Edwards and surgeon Albert Starr began developing an artificial heart valve. Their work led to the Starr-Edwards valve, introduced in 1960. Edwards Lifesciences is headquartered in Irvine, California, and serves clinicians and patients around the world.