Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Stake Lessened by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,556 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 947 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $3,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total transaction of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,301.36. The trade was a 26.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,489 shares of company stock worth $2,002,829. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.7 %

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $71.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.19. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $58.93 and a 1-year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

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.