Raymond James & Associates Purchases 139,515 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,775,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 139,515 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.29% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $169,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EW. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth $174,000. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth about $255,000. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 17,410 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 19,239 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth approximately $207,000. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total transaction of $2,311,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 34,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,980,774.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total transaction of $2,311,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 34,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,774.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,506,925.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 194,004 shares of company stock valued at $17,166,254. 1.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $85.95. 2,931,204 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,839,852. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.06. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $60.57 and a twelve month high of $96.12. The firm has a market cap of $51.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 23.01%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective 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 decreased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.71.

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.