South Dakota Investment Council Lowers Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

South Dakota Investment Council cut its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $17,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,532,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,080,845,000 after acquiring an additional 14,610,123 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,265,633 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,733,270,000 after acquiring an additional 256,538 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,521,147 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $889,050,000 after acquiring an additional 284,918 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 9.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,078,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $599,078,000 after acquiring an additional 806,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at about $555,939,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE EW opened at $73.25 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $72.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.00. The firm has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.10.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total value of $34,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,594,475.64. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,489 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,829. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.