Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 4,527 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation by 14.2%, owning 27,395 shares after selling 4,527 shares in the first quarter.
• Edwards Lifesciences reported a $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.62 and indicating a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.9%.
• Recent price target updates include Deutsche Bank raising its target to $94.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $85.90.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,395 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,527 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EW. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth $48,000. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 16.5% in the first quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 10,107 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,961,643 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $287,140,000 after acquiring an additional 198,882 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth $6,044,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences in the first quarter worth $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company's stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EW traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,630,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,535,648. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.68 and a quick ratio of 3.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.24. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 52 week low of $64.00 and a 52 week high of $83.00.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 72.96%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Dbs Bank raised Edwards Lifesciences to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. BTIG Research raised Edwards Lifesciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.90.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In related news, insider Larry L. Wood sold 8,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.23, for a total value of $673,308.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 206,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,565,087. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.08, for a total value of $112,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 33,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,514,879.68. This represents a 4.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,134 shares of company stock valued at $1,311,745 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.