Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Position Lessened by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,114,266 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 33,175 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $84,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EW. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,611 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $700,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 106,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,361,000 after acquiring an additional 34,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 323,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. OTR Global raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total transaction of $567,993.95. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at $1,506,925.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.67, for a total transaction of $2,543,764.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,801.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.29, for a total value of $567,993.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,506,925.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 194,004 shares of company stock worth $17,166,254. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EW opened at $88.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.69. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $60.57 and a 52-week high of $96.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 23.56% and a net margin of 23.35%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.