Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 23,591 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 793,925 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 23,591 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $58,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,080,845,000 after buying an additional 14,610,123 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $555,939,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $314,182,000 after acquiring an additional 3,506,886 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 239.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,693,663 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $243,745,000 after purchasing an additional 2,606,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $109,490,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of EW traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,843,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,417,774. The company has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.86 and a 200 day moving average of $69.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 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 - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on EW shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total transaction of $185,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,717,841.12. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,489 shares of company stock worth $2,002,829. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.