Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Intuitive Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Intuitive Surgical to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $590.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.54.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:ISRG opened at $436.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $151.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical has a 1 year low of $328.57 and a 1 year high of $603.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $402.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $433.43.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The medical equipment provider reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.35. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 25.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Surgical

In other Intuitive Surgical news, Director Gary Guthart sold 20,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.61, for a total value of $9,075,102.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,204,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,977,793.30. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Craig Barratt sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.80, for a total value of $510,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $510,370. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,778 shares of company stock valued at $16,814,967. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,616,973 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,667,388,000 after buying an additional 116,292 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 2nd quarter worth $1,335,753,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 8.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,428,356 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,119,448,000 after buying an additional 193,096 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 95.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,105,544 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $970,635,000 after buying an additional 1,027,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Intuitive Surgical by 10.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,893,485 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $769,948,000 after acquiring an additional 184,044 shares during the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical, Inc develops and manufactures robotic-assisted systems and related technologies for minimally invasive surgery. Its products are designed to help surgeons perform procedures through small incisions while providing enhanced visualization, precision and control. The company’s primary platform is the da Vinci Surgical System, which is used across a range of specialties, including urology, gynecology, general surgery, cardiothoracic surgery and other procedures.

The company also offers the Ion endoluminal system, which is designed to support minimally invasive lung biopsy procedures.