Ascent Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Ascent Group LLC lessened its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 33.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,719 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,364 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 330,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,603,000 after buying an additional 14,087 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 151.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after buying an additional 12,112 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 175.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 38,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,640,000 after buying an additional 24,242 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 558,031 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $42,550,000 after buying an additional 54,595 shares during the period. Finally, Cim LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth $13,724,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.23.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Down 1.4 %

EW stock opened at $65.09 on Wednesday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The company has a market capitalization of $39.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.55% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $330,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,530.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $87,437.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 29,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,051,843.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total transaction of $330,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,530.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,250 shares of company stock worth $1,218,138. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Company 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.