Security National Bank Takes $50,000 Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Security National Bank acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 655 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,633,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,577,163,000 after purchasing an additional 325,808 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 18,181,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,386,333,000 after buying an additional 3,048,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,434,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,138,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,427 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $648,540,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,357,473 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $440,446,000 after purchasing an additional 241,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.68, for a total transaction of $1,320,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,914,181.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 8,617 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.68, for a total transaction of $755,538.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,981,354.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jean-Luc M. Lemercier sold 14,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.68, for a total transaction of $1,320,192.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,914,181.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 151,004 shares of company stock worth $13,469,601 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.06.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.14. 2,427,051 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,214,054. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $60.57 and a twelve month high of $96.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.01% and a return on equity of 22.86%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.