Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) Shares Sold by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,730 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 16.7% in the fourth 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. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,994 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,993,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 156,968 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,620,000 after buying an additional 80,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 15,374 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock opened at $76.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.10. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 52 week low of $58.93 and a 52 week high of $96.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.50.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The medical research company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.04. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 70.82% and a return on equity of 20.76%. Research analysts forecast that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.42, for a total transaction of $438,574.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,613,628.24. This trade represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total transaction of $34,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,475.64. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,489 shares of company stock worth $2,002,829. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

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.