Short Interest in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Decreases By 5.6%

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,220,000 shares, a decrease of 5.6% from the March 31st total of 3,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

Shares of ISRG stock traded down $1.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $372.33. 384,347 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,634,673. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $386.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $347.50. Intuitive Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $254.85 and a fifty-two week high of $403.76. The firm has a market cap of $132.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 1.36.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.10. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Intuitive Surgical’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alan J. Levy sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total value of $741,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,319 shares in the company, valued at $9,385,753.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Intuitive Surgical news, SVP Mark Brosius sold 196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $78,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,842 shares in the company, valued at $736,800. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Alan J. Levy sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $741,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,319 shares in the company, valued at $9,385,753.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 225,093 shares of company stock valued at $87,153,299 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Surgical

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 77 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ISRG. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $440.00 to $436.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $385.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.17.

Intuitive Surgical Company Profile

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.