Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,966 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,444 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 4.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 57.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,516,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $622,695,000 after buying an additional 2,390,137 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 17.8% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 3,273,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,013,000 after buying an additional 494,604 shares in the last quarter. Ownership Capital B.V. lifted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ownership Capital B.V. now owns 2,993,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $197,509,000 after buying an additional 34,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,082,961 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $192,403,000 after acquiring an additional 43,247 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $67.76 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $67.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.12. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The firm has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.91, for a total transaction of $1,647,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 198,526 shares in the company, valued at $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total transaction of $327,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,077,593.52. This trade represents a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,250 shares of company stock worth $2,744,438 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EW shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America cut shares of 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 report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.67.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.