Ascent Group LLC Sells 1,745 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Ascent Group LLC cut its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 29.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,083 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,745 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 330,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,603,000 after purchasing an additional 14,087 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 151.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 12,112 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 158.2% in the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 91,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,970,000 after purchasing an additional 56,000 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5,092.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 12,306 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 12,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HealthInvest Partners AB acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth $1,587,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on EW. Citigroup increased their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $91.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total transaction of $622,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,636,549.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total transaction of $622,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,636,549.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.29, for a total value of $466,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,378,659.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,099 shares of company stock valued at $7,003,553 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 2.2 %

EW traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $63.74. 9,883,939 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,813,933. The firm has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.11. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12-month low of $58.93 and a 12-month high of $96.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.98 and a 200 day moving average of $86.99.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 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.