Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 1,600 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,836 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EW. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 57.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,516,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $622,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390,137 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter valued at about $124,511,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 4.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,782,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,827,347,000 after buying an additional 809,605 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 3,273,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,013,000 after acquiring an additional 494,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 422.3% during the 3rd quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 450,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,711,000 after acquiring an additional 364,030 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on EW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America cut Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 198,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,084,848.66. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,051,843.35. The trade was a 4.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,250 shares of company stock valued at $2,744,438 over the last ninety days. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $67.76 on Monday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $96.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.44 and its 200 day moving average is $76.12. The stock has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.57 EPS 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.