Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 2,238 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,238 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 95,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $2,350,000. Haven Capital Group Inc. purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $3,870,000. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,043,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $151,280,000 after purchasing an additional 258,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Architects LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total value of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 51,303 shares of company stock valued at $3,715,776 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on EW. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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 given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $70.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $41.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 72.93% and a return on equity of 19.40%. As a group, analysts expect 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.