Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Cuts Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,409 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,728 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $9,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EW. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total transaction of $428,459.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total value of $34,380.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,303 shares of company stock valued at $3,715,776 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EW shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE EW traded down $0.12 on Wednesday, hitting $71.12. 3,487,871 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,618,976. The firm has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $71.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.45. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. On average, research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current 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.