ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 57 Shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,150 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ISRG. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the first quarter worth about $1,715,899,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 26.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,819,666 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,396,496,000 after acquiring an additional 584,375 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 20.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,393,951 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,680,922,000 after buying an additional 566,979 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 15.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,499,052 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,732,975,000 after buying an additional 457,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,665,531 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $16,178,258,000 after buying an additional 453,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuitive Surgical

In related news, insider Gary S. Guthart sold 29,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.49, for a total transaction of $13,872,306.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,368,059.23. This trade represents a 59.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.69, for a total value of $147,631.15. Following the sale, the director directly owned 739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,669.91. This represents a 31.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,224 shares of company stock worth $21,716,492 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of ISRG stock opened at $452.35 on Friday. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 1 year low of $425.00 and a 1 year high of $616.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $463.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $500.00. The company has a market cap of $162.16 billion, a PE ratio of 63.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.61.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.26. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 28.51%.The business had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ISRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Intuitive Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $470.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $621.00 to $567.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Intuitive Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $594.19.

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.