Insider Selling: Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) EVP Sells $151,600.00 in Stock

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.00, for a total value of $151,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,016,280. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Gary Loeb also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 10th, Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.14, for a total transaction of $169,656.00.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

ISRG stock opened at $401.27 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $392.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $442.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.96, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a one year low of $328.57 and a one year high of $603.88.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.32. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

More Intuitive Surgical News

Here are the key news stories impacting Intuitive Surgical this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer upgraded ISRG to Outperform and set a $500 price target, citing the company’s ability to “crowd out” competitors. The firm believes Medtronic’s Hugo and Intuitive’s Ottava systems pose limited near-term threats to the da Vinci franchise because of workflow, operating-room real-estate and adoption challenges. Oppenheimer upgrade report
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein reiterated its Buy rating and maintained a $685 price target, pointing to progress on Intuitive’s next-generation gastrointestinal platform. Longer term, continued da Vinci 5 adoption, recurring instruments and service revenue, and expansion into additional procedures support the company’s growth outlook. Bernstein rating report
• Positive Sentiment: The ENCOMPASS post-market study is highlighting Intuitive’s opportunity in robotic-assisted lung biopsy. Progress in this clinical program could broaden use of the Ion platform and create additional recurring procedure-related revenue. ENCOMPASS trial report
• Neutral Sentiment: Intuitive’s second-quarter results were strong, with revenue up 18.4% to $2.89 billion and EPS of $2.80 versus the $2.48 consensus estimate. However, investors are focusing more on forward procedure growth than on the earnings beat.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. procedure growth slowed in the second quarter. Analysts attributed some of the weakness to Affordable Care Act-related care deferrals, which could be temporary, but the issue raises near-term uncertainty around demand and revenue growth. U.S. procedure growth report
• Negative Sentiment: Insiders reported several sales, including Director Gary Guthart’s 10,000-share sale for approximately $4 million and smaller sales by Director Amy Ladd and EVP Gary Loeb. The trades were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their value as a discretionary bearish signal, but they may weigh modestly on sentiment.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ISRG. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $550.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Barclays set a $651.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $573.00 to $454.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $508.68.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 928 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 38.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 973 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Intuitive Surgical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 92.4% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,929 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the period. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intuitive Surgical Company Profile

Intuitive Surgical, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, is a medical technology company focused on the design, manufacture and service of robotic-assisted surgical systems. The company is best known for its da Vinci surgical systems, which enable minimally invasive procedures by translating a surgeon’s hand movements into finer, scaled motions of small instruments inside the patient. Intuitive’s business centers on supplying hospitals and surgical centers with systems, instruments and related technologies that aim to improve precision, visualization and control in the operating room.

In addition to its core surgical platforms, Intuitive markets a portfolio of reusable and disposable instruments, accessories, and proprietary software, and provides training, servicing and clinical support to its customers.