Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Bought by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 25.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,354 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EW. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 323,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,393,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 7,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 22,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 25,516 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 7.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 163,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,361,000 after purchasing an additional 11,117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.68. 3,097,272 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,828,306. The stock has a market cap of $50.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.50, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.05. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $60.57 and a 1 year high of $96.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.16. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 23.01%. On average, research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.71.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total value of $944,130.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 39,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,390,542.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.83, for a total value of $944,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 39,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,390,542.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 27,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total value of $2,311,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 34,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,774.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,254 shares of company stock worth $17,788,304 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

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.