Wall Street Zen Downgrades Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) to Hold

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

ISRG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $650.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, August 14th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $469.00 price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $550.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Twenty-two research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.68.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

ISRG opened at $401.65 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $372.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.49. Intuitive Surgical has a 1 year low of $328.57 and a 1 year high of $603.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.89 billion, a PE ratio of 46.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.47.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 16.91%. Intuitive Surgical’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuitive Surgical

In related news, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the company’s 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 executive vice president directly owned 5,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,280. This represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Fredrik Widman sold 1,089 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.44, for a total value of $407,765.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,175.44. This represents a 51.49% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,370 shares of company stock worth $4,891,989. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 12.3% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,408 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,946,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC boosted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 120.8% during the 2nd quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 795 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,743 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,261,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the 2nd quarter worth $218,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 749,814 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $298,186,000 after purchasing an additional 22,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

About Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical, Inc is a medical technology company that develops and manufactures robotic-assisted surgical systems and related products. Its technology is designed to support surgeons during minimally invasive procedures by providing enhanced visualization, instrument control and dexterity.

The company’s principal product is the da Vinci Surgical System, which is used across a range of specialties, including general surgery, urology, gynecology, cardiothoracic surgery and other procedures.