California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 288,681 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 787,027 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 288,681 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $58,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EW. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. 79.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

EW opened at $71.77 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.59 and a 200 day moving average of $70.59. The stock has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30, a PEG 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $95.25.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,189,770.56. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $797,287.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,153,526.69. The trade was a 27.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 62,553 shares of company stock valued at $4,513,064. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EW shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.