OFI Invest Asset Management Invests $22.71 Million in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 317,591 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,705,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,057,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $301,355,000 after buying an additional 1,043,484 shares in the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST now owns 4,800,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $355,344,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $3,702,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth about $4,845,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $70.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.38.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its 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 return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on EW shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.78, for a total value of $796,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,594,475.64. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,739 shares of company stock worth $2,799,104. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

About Edwards Lifesciences

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.