Sabal Trust CO Decreases Stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Sabal Trust CO cut its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,179 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,851 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 40,207 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. raised its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Edwards Lifesciences

In other news, VP Daniel J. Lippis sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total value of $185,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 23,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,841.12. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven R. Loranger sold 5,739 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,613,628.24. This represents a 8.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,489 shares of company stock worth $2,002,829 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock opened at $71.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.89. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.93 and a fifty-two week high of $96.12.

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 return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 72.93%. Analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on EW shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.95.

About Edwards Lifesciences

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.