Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,592 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 125.0% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 4.5 %

Edwards Lifesciences stock traded up $2.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,111,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,310,790. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $96.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on EW shares. Robert W. Baird lowered Edwards Lifesciences from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $102.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $91.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $110.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Edwards Lifesciences from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian acquired 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.74 per share, with a total value of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 3,268 shares in the company, valued at $280,198.32. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 8,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.68, for a total value of $755,538.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,981,354.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian acquired 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,729.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 3,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,198.32. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,099 shares of company stock worth $7,003,553 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Edwards Lifesciences

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.