8,251,995 Shares in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,251,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,895,000. Norges Bank owned 1.40% of Edwards Lifesciences at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EW. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. WELLCOME TRUST LTD THE as trustee of the WELLCOME TRUST increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 6.7% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,702,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $4,845,000. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on EW shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 0.4 %

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $70.90 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a one year low of $58.93 and a one year high of $95.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.49 and its 200 day moving average is $70.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. The trade was a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at $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 90 days, insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.