Abacus Planning Group Inc. Acquires 629 Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,067 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $2,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 23,484 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,169,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank raised its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 917 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 8,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 2,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 3,840 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EW opened at $65.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $39.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.13. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $58.93 and a 12 month high of $96.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.47 and its 200 day moving average is $81.39.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The medical research company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 22.35% and a net margin of 24.55%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EW shares. TD Cowen downgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Daiwa America upgraded Edwards Lifesciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Edwards Lifesciences from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Baird R W lowered shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.29, for a total transaction of $466,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,378,659.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $87,437.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 29,333 shares in the company, valued at $2,051,843.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.29, for a total value of $466,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 46,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,378,659.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,218,138. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.