First Western Trust Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

First Western Trust Bank reduced its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,371 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,279 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the first quarter worth $28,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter worth $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.54, for a total transaction of $437,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,108,777.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $87,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 29,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,051,843.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.54, for a total transaction of $437,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,108,777.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,321,988. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Baird R W downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $99.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.10.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $66.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.87. The firm has a market cap of $39.80 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.11. 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 Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.55% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current 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.