Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $508.6830.

ISRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $550.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $573.00 to $454.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Intuitive Surgical in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Surgical

In related news, EVP Mark Brosius sold 77 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.57, for a total transaction of $28,918.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $330,877.17. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $151,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,016,280. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,283 shares of company stock worth $7,015,429. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,522,191 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $862,108,000 after acquiring an additional 132,966 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,077 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,255,000 after acquiring an additional 16,119 shares in the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the 4th quarter valued at $18,771,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,315,000. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter worth $10,730,000. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

Intuitive Surgical stock opened at $372.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $131.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.68, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical has a 52-week low of $328.57 and a 52-week high of $603.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $384.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $432.76.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.32. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical will post 8.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Intuitive Surgical

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.