Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $1.23 Million Position in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) by 339.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 13,142 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the fourth quarter worth about $266,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 10,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 41,340 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,060,000 after buying an additional 6,676 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 9,440 shares during the period. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $75.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 3.66 and a current ratio of 4.45. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.93 and a 52-week high of $95.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.03. The firm has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.12.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 16.62% and a net margin of 75.48%. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Edwards Lifesciences’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.40, for a total value of $198,918.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 50,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,897,554.40. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard J. Zovighian sold 5,980 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $447,961.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,366,054.44. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,898 shares of company stock worth $3,796,154. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EW. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.20.

Edwards Lifesciences 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.