Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Raised to “Buy” at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports.

ISRG has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $538.00 price target (up from $495.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $512.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $440.00 to $500.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.61.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

ISRG stock opened at $550.43 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $503.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $461.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.39. Intuitive Surgical has a 52-week low of $304.50 and a 52-week high of $551.78.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.32. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.51% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Equities analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gary S. Guthart sold 18,151 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.63, for a total value of $9,286,596.13. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,391,166.97. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert Desantis sold 188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.21, for a total value of $90,655.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,655,048.26. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,935 shares of company stock valued at $26,305,169 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,050,121 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $7,393,673,000 after acquiring an additional 210,363 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,971,085 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,389,765,000 after purchasing an additional 838,793 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,512,925 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,677,194,000 after purchasing an additional 143,440 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,284,269 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,907,079,000 after purchasing an additional 73,634 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,782,381 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,349,441,000 after purchasing an additional 86,208 shares during the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is currently 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.