Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,238 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EW. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 86.3% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 14,610,123 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $555,939,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 475.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,243,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $314,182,000 after purchasing an additional 3,506,886 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth about $213,844,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 239.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,693,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,745,000 after purchasing an additional 2,606,950 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock opened at $70.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.35. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 6,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.51, for a total value of $428,459.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,106,859.33. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $645,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. The trade was a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,303 shares of company stock worth $3,715,776 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on EW. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

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.