Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $554.17.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ISRG shares. Morgan Stanley raised Intuitive Surgical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $522.00 to $650.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $549.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $604.00 price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $525.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $495.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of Intuitive Surgical stock opened at $544.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $193.77 billion, a PE ratio of 87.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $534.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $493.26. Intuitive Surgical has a 1 year low of $325.77 and a 1 year high of $556.23.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 13.41% and a net margin of 28.51%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, EVP Robert Desantis sold 188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.52, for a total value of $95,225.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,788,899.12. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jamie Samath sold 270 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.15, for a total value of $145,840.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,730,093.55. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,190 shares of company stock valued at $25,012,927. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Surgical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 60 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 415.4% during the second quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC now owns 67 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 83.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets products that enable physicians and healthcare providers to enhance the quality of and access to minimally invasive care in the United States and internationally. The company offers the da Vinci Surgical System that enables complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach; and Ion endoluminal system, which extends its commercial offerings beyond surgery into diagnostic procedures enabling minimally invasive biopsies in the lung.