Allianz SE Makes New $339,000 Investment in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Allianz SE purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,132,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,117,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537,494 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 worth $2,080,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610,123 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 256,538 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,521,147 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $889,050,000 after purchasing an additional 284,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,775,276 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $723,664,000 after buying an additional 696,965 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. The trade was a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total value of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. The trade was a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,553 shares of company stock worth $4,513,064. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EW shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $70.90 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $95.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $71.49 and its 200 day moving average is $70.53.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.