Howard Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,005 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $852,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,301.36. The trade was a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,489 shares of company stock worth $2,002,829 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $71.46 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.18. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.