Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Director Gary Guthart Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Director Gary Guthart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,245,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,271,600. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Up 0.0%

ISRG opened at $401.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $141.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.96, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 12-month low of $328.57 and a 12-month high of $603.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $392.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $442.47.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.32. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 28.45%.The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.87 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the first quarter worth $30,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. grew its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 833.3% during the 4th quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. now owns 56 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $580.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC lowered Intuitive Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $391.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $487.00 price target (down from $654.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $550.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Twenty-two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.68.

Trending Headlines about Intuitive Surgical

Here are the key news stories impacting Intuitive Surgical this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer upgraded ISRG to Outperform and set a $500 price target, citing the company’s ability to “crowd out” competitors. The firm believes Medtronic’s Hugo and Intuitive’s Ottava systems pose limited near-term threats to the da Vinci franchise because of workflow, operating-room real-estate and adoption challenges. Oppenheimer upgrade report
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein reiterated its Buy rating and maintained a $685 price target, pointing to progress on Intuitive’s next-generation gastrointestinal platform. Longer term, continued da Vinci 5 adoption, recurring instruments and service revenue, and expansion into additional procedures support the company’s growth outlook. Bernstein rating report
• Positive Sentiment: The ENCOMPASS post-market study is highlighting Intuitive’s opportunity in robotic-assisted lung biopsy. Progress in this clinical program could broaden use of the Ion platform and create additional recurring procedure-related revenue. ENCOMPASS trial report
• Neutral Sentiment: Intuitive’s second-quarter results were strong, with revenue up 18.4% to $2.89 billion and EPS of $2.80 versus the $2.48 consensus estimate. However, investors are focusing more on forward procedure growth than on the earnings beat.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. procedure growth slowed in the second quarter. Analysts attributed some of the weakness to Affordable Care Act-related care deferrals, which could be temporary, but the issue raises near-term uncertainty around demand and revenue growth. U.S. procedure growth report
• Negative Sentiment: Insiders reported several sales, including Director Gary Guthart’s 10,000-share sale for approximately $4 million and smaller sales by Director Amy Ladd and EVP Gary Loeb. The trades were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their value as a discretionary bearish signal, but they may weigh modestly on sentiment.

Intuitive Surgical Company Profile

Intuitive Surgical, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, is a medical technology company focused on the design, manufacture and service of robotic-assisted surgical systems. The company is best known for its da Vinci surgical systems, which enable minimally invasive procedures by translating a surgeon’s hand movements into finer, scaled motions of small instruments inside the patient. Intuitive’s business centers on supplying hospitals and surgical centers with systems, instruments and related technologies that aim to improve precision, visualization and control in the operating room.

In addition to its core surgical platforms, Intuitive markets a portfolio of reusable and disposable instruments, accessories, and proprietary software, and provides training, servicing and clinical support to its customers.