Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lessened its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EW. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $406,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 32.1% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 213,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,102,000 after acquiring an additional 51,896 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 0.7 %

EW stock opened at $70.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $71.42 and its 200 day moving average is $70.36. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. On average, research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $645,620.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,189,770.56. This trade represents a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,303 shares of company stock worth $3,715,776. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.