Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 13,962 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 78.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,874 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 13,962 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,080,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610,123 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,265,633 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,733,270,000 after purchasing an additional 256,538 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,521,147 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $889,050,000 after purchasing an additional 284,918 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 9.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,078,311 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $599,078,000 after purchasing an additional 806,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $555,939,000. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on EW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

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

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.47. 1,321,616 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,370,133. The firm has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $72.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.86. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.