Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 23,409 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 134,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,409 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $9,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% during the third 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 during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at $555,939,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $314,182,000 after acquiring an additional 3,506,886 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 239.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,693,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,745,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $109,490,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total value of $327,850.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,077,593.52. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $547,430 in the last quarter. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

EW opened at $70.38 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $41.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.43. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $96.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.19.

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.