Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Piper Sandler Analyst Says

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $595.00 to $610.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the medical equipment provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.65% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $535.00 to $450.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $559.00 to $599.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $600.00 to $525.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $604.50.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Up 4.6%

NASDAQ:ISRG opened at $551.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $197.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $456.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $496.40. Intuitive Surgical has a 12-month low of $425.00 and a 12-month high of $616.00.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuitive Surgical news, insider Gary S. Guthart sold 29,360 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 19,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,368,059.23. The trade was a 59.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 336 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.11, for a total transaction of $157,956.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,898.14. This represents a 23.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,724 shares of company stock valued at $19,500,332. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Intuitive Surgical in the second quarter worth about $2,569,260,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Intuitive Surgical in the first quarter worth about $1,715,899,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,335,833 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $18,115,025,000 after acquiring an additional 670,302 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 26.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,819,666 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,396,496,000 after acquiring 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 Intuitive Surgical by 20.1% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 566,979 shares in the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.