Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Oppenheimer

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $500.00 price objective on the medical equipment provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target suggests a potential upside of 24.62% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $670.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $391.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $483.00 price objective (down from $577.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho set a $500.00 target price on Intuitive Surgical and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.68.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of ISRG opened at $401.23 on Wednesday. Intuitive Surgical has a 52-week low of $328.57 and a 52-week high of $603.88. The company has a market capitalization of $141.75 billion, a PE ratio of 45.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $392.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $443.35.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Intuitive Surgical will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.00, for a total transaction of $151,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,280. This represents a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, SVP Iman Jeddi sold 5,625 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.55, for a total value of $2,365,593.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,718,014.65. This trade represents a 46.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,106 shares of company stock worth $2,949,518 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,856,987,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the second quarter worth about $1,335,753,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in Intuitive Surgical by 18,504.6% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,127,248 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,204,788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115,814 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 1,043.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,342,121 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $760,124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,027,475 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

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.