Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Sold by Busey Bank

Busey Bank reduced its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,885 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 788 shares during the period. Busey Bank’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EW. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,080,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610,123 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,265,633 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,733,270,000 after acquiring an additional 256,538 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,521,147 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $889,050,000 after acquiring an additional 284,918 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,078,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $599,078,000 after acquiring an additional 806,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,005,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,322,000 after purchasing an additional 61,275 shares during the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.19.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $73.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $43.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $185,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,000 shares of company stock worth $2,195,180. 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.