Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 17,647 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 817,516 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,647 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $53,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EW. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW remained flat at $74.81 on Monday. The stock had a trading volume of 4,228,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,724,371. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.43. 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 company has a market capitalization of $44.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EW. Barclays increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total value of $327,850.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,077,593.52. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $185,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,508,350. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

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.