Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $3.74 Million Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,556 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 947 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $3,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EW. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 138.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 79.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of EW opened at $71.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 3.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.19. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total value of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.76, for a total value of $852,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,315,301.36. This trade represents a 26.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,489 shares of company stock valued at $2,002,829 in the last 90 days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.