Intuitive Surgical’s (ISRG) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Citigroup

Citigroup reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. Citigroup currently has a $650.00 target price on the medical equipment provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $590.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ISRG. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $630.00 to $605.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. CICC Research assumed coverage on Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $575.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered Intuitive Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $490.00 to $548.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.05.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of ISRG opened at $542.67 on Thursday. Intuitive Surgical has a 12-month low of $396.15 and a 12-month high of $616.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $510.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $537.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.50 billion, a PE ratio of 84.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 1.70.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.10. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 27.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Intuitive Surgical will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Myriam Curet sold 2,401 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $581.00, for a total transaction of $1,394,981.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $205,093. The trade was a 87.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jami K. Nachtsheim sold 2,400 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total value of $1,248,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,920. The trade was a 27.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,700 shares of company stock valued at $16,865,621 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ISRG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter worth about $2,401,493,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the 1st quarter valued at $1,715,899,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 54,010.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,028,576 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,999,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,022,979 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 89,098.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 949,967 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $495,845,000 after buying an additional 948,902 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,381,302 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,764,904,000 after buying an additional 687,906 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

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.