Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Intuitive Surgical Put Options (NASDAQ:ISRG)

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 8,950 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 27% compared to the typical volume of 7,045 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $169,656.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,426,080.80. This trade represents a 6.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,718,014.65. The trade was a 46.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,169 shares of company stock valued at $3,059,135. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 44 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ISRG opened at $388.97 on Thursday. Intuitive Surgical has a 52-week low of $378.50 and a 52-week high of $603.88. The company has a market cap of $137.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $418.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $469.98.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical equipment provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.42. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 28.15%.The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ISRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $670.00 price target on Intuitive Surgical in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research lowered Intuitive Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Mizuho set a $500.00 target price on Intuitive Surgical and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $518.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $565.31.

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.