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

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Director Gary Guthart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $4,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,245,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,271,600. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

ISRG stock opened at $401.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap 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 twelve month low of $328.57 and a twelve month high of $603.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $392.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $441.60.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. Research analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.87 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ISRG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $573.00 to $454.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays set a $651.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.68.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Surgical

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Draper Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Draper Asset Management LLC now owns 5,029 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 1,485 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,522,191 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $862,108,000 after buying an additional 132,966 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,077 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $40,255,000 after buying an additional 16,119 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Intuitive Surgical by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 420,593 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $238,207,000 after acquiring an additional 18,697 shares during the period. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,771,000. 83.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Intuitive Surgical

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

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer upgraded ISRG to Outperform with a $500 price target, arguing that Medtronic’s Hugo and Intuitive’s Ottava face workflow, operating-room space and adoption challenges that limit their near-term threat to the da Vinci franchise. Oppenheimer upgrade report
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein reiterated its Buy rating and $685 target, citing progress on a new gastrointestinal platform, continued da Vinci 5 adoption and the company’s recurring instruments and service revenue model. Bernstein rating report
• Positive Sentiment: TCW Funds said Intuitive Surgical’s competitive moat remains intact despite near-term volatility. The ENCOMPASS study also highlights potential expansion of the Ion robotic platform into lung biopsy procedures, which could support future recurring revenue. TCW investor letter
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent quarterly results were strong: revenue increased 18.4% year over year to $2.89 billion and earnings per share reached $2.80, beating the $2.48 consensus estimate. However, investors are placing greater emphasis on forward procedure growth than on the earnings beat.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. procedure growth slowed in the second quarter. Analysts attributed part of the weakness to Affordable Care Act-related care deferrals, which may be temporary but create uncertainty around near-term demand. U.S. procedure growth report
• Negative Sentiment: Director Gary Guthart sold 10,000 shares for approximately $4 million. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represented only about 0.8% of his holdings, limiting its significance but potentially weighing modestly on sentiment. Gary Guthart insider sale

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.