Diversified Trust Co Decreases Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Diversified Trust Co cut its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,148 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter worth $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth $34,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter worth $39,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.54, for a total transaction of $437,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,108,777.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.54, for a total transaction of $437,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,108,777.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 8,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,981,354.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,242 shares of company stock valued at $2,168,470 in the last 90 days. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW traded down $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.80. 413,532 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,014,896. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.06.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.55% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Baird R W downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $91.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

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.