Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires Shares of 125,240 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation $EW

Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 125,240 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,740,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton bought a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 251.5% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 362 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 57.8% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 366 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 413.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 375 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Edwards Lifesciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EW shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $103.00 target price (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. National Bankshares set a $92.00 price objective on Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $104.00 target price (up previously from $103.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $110.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.82.

Insider Activity

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 11,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.66, for a total transaction of $971,384.40. Following the sale, the vice president owned 31,870 shares in the company, valued at $2,729,984.20. This trade represents a 26.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.47, for a total value of $650,419.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 39,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,370,184.06. The trade was a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,824 shares of company stock worth $4,863,323. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

NYSE:EW opened at $81.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $47.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $84.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.94. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.94 and a twelve month high of $87.89.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The medical research company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.08. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 23.25% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Corporation will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edwards Lifesciences Profile

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.