Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Shares Up 4.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) shot up 4.6% on Thursday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $550.00 to $560.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Intuitive Surgical traded as high as $552.50 and last traded at $551.30. 3,969,044 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 87% from the average session volume of 2,122,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $527.03.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $575.00 price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial set a $603.00 price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $599.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $604.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gary S. Guthart sold 29,360 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.49, for a total value of $13,872,306.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 19,827 shares in the company, valued at $9,368,059.23. This trade represents a 59.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 335 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.69, for a total transaction of $147,631.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,669.91. This represents a 31.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,724 shares of company stock worth $19,500,332. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Surgical

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ISRG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,569,260,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 1st quarter worth about $1,715,899,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,335,833 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $18,115,025,000 after buying an additional 670,302 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,819,666 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,396,496,000 after buying an additional 584,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,393,951 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,680,922,000 after buying an additional 566,979 shares in the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Up 4.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $197.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $456.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $496.40.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical equipment provider reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.58% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Intuitive Surgical’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.