Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ISRG. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Intuitive Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on Intuitive Surgical and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $580.00 target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $569.20.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of ISRG opened at $411.55 on Wednesday. Intuitive Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $396.68 and a fifty-two week high of $603.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $423.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $475.13. The company has a market cap of $145.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.88, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.46.

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. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.62 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Surgical

In other Intuitive Surgical news, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.14, for a total value of $169,656.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,720 shares in the company, valued at $2,426,080.80. This represents a 6.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.46, for a total transaction of $236,730.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,156.94. The trade was a 67.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 7,169 shares of company stock valued at $3,059,135 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ISRG. Draper Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Draper Asset Management LLC now owns 5,029 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Intuitive Surgical by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,077 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,255,000 after acquiring an additional 16,119 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in Intuitive Surgical by 787.8% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,794 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after acquiring an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Finally, Robinhood Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,478,000. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.