Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation $EW

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) by 14.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 700,159 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 121,666 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $56,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EW. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 109,749 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,356,000 after buying an additional 23,514 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,286,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $194,907,000 after acquiring an additional 648,870 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $775,000. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter worth $2,984,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at $803,686,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $85.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.63, a current ratio of 4.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $49.36 billion, a PE ratio of 45.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.94. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a twelve month low of $72.30 and a twelve month high of $96.29.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 17.39% and a return on equity of 15.19%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Edwards Lifesciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.700-0.760 EPS. Research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 23,145 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.42, for a total value of $2,000,190.90. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 98,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,521,962.62. The trade was a 19.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total value of $56,762.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 40,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,671,117.80. The trade was a 1.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 45,577 shares of company stock worth $3,855,527 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EW. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $104.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $85.00 price objective on Edwards Lifesciences and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.95.

About Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences is a medical technology company focused on products and therapies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. The company designs, develops and manufactures prosthetic heart valves and related delivery systems used in both surgical and minimally invasive (transcatheter) procedures. Its portfolio addresses a range of valvular conditions, with an emphasis on technologies that enable transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as an alternative to open-heart surgery.

In addition to transcatheter heart valves—including the widely recognized SAPIEN family—Edwards offers surgical tissue valves and ancillary devices used by cardiac surgeons, interventional cardiologists and hospital teams.