Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

ISRG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective 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. TD Cowen lowered shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $520.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.68.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

ISRG opened at $394.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $139.37 billion, a PE ratio of 45.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $391.45 and a 200-day moving average of $441.28. Intuitive Surgical has a 52-week low of $328.57 and a 52-week high of $603.88.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 28.45%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Surgical

In related news, Director Gary S. Guthart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,245,679 shares in the company, valued at $498,271,600. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.00, for a total transaction of $151,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,129. This trade represents a 61.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 17,106 shares of company stock valued at $6,949,518 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the second quarter worth $30,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 58.1% during the first quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. increased its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 833.3% in the 4th quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. now owns 56 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 83.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.