Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Reduces Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lessened its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the third quarter worth $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $13,084,848.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.57, for a total transaction of $327,850.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,077,593.52. The trade was a 9.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,500 shares of company stock worth $2,160,800 in the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

EW opened at $71.20 on Tuesday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a twelve month low of $58.93 and a twelve month high of $96.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.11. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $71.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.77.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.67. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 70.82%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.