Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Rating Lowered to Hold at HSBC

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) was downgraded by analysts at HSBC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $391.00 target price on the medical equipment provider’s stock. HSBC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.66% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ISRG. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $487.00 target price (down from $654.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $558.00 price target on Intuitive Surgical in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $483.00 price objective (down from $577.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Intuitive Surgical to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.02.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

NASDAQ ISRG opened at $353.33 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $398.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $451.98. The firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.47, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical has a 1 year low of $328.57 and a 1 year high of $603.88.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intuitive Surgical news, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.14, for a total value of $169,656.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,426,080.80. This trade represents a 6.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Iman Jeddi sold 5,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.55, for a total value of $2,365,593.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,718,014.65. The trade was a 46.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 6,634 shares of company stock worth $2,796,795 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 0.5% during the third quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 4,033 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Sunburst Financial Group LLC grew its position in Intuitive Surgical by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 485 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 4,180 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 269 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 203 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Intuitive Surgical News

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS upgraded ISRG, arguing that the recent selloff was excessive. The firm’s revised price target of $475 implies meaningful upside and may be supporting renewed investor interest. UBS upgrades Intuitive Surgical
• Positive Sentiment: Intuitive Surgical’s expansion beyond urology into general surgery and other specialties could create additional procedure growth and increase long-term demand for da Vinci systems, instruments and related services. Robotic surgery expansion beyond urology
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable, with the brokerage consensus at “Moderate Buy.” The company’s recurring revenue from instruments and accessories, expanding installed base and durable robotic-surgery demand remain key bullish arguments. Brokerage consensus on Intuitive Surgical
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks highlighted the unusually high level of investor interest in ISRG, but the article did not provide a new earnings or guidance catalyst. Zacks investor attention report
• Neutral Sentiment: An executive’s small stock sales were made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and reduced his holdings by roughly 2%, making them unlikely to materially alter the investment case. Intuitive Surgical insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC lowered Intuitive Surgical from Buy to Hold and set a $391 price target. Although that target remains above recent trading levels, the downgrade signals reduced confidence in the stock’s near-term upside. HSBC downgrades Intuitive Surgical
• Negative Sentiment: Despite a quarterly revenue and earnings beat, investors remain concerned about softer U.S. procedure growth, deferred care and the premium valuation. Those worries have contributed to continued pressure in the shares. Intuitive Surgical post-earnings selloff

About Intuitive Surgical

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.