Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,758 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,041 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 54,589 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EW shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $852,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,315,301.36. This represents a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,803 shares of company stock valued at $3,900,976 in the last ninety days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $69.37 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.32. 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 $40.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.