Key Points
- Director Gary Guthart sold 10,000 Intuitive Surgical shares at an average price of $400, generating approximately $4 million. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and reduced his stake by 0.8%.
- Intuitive Surgical reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 18.4% year over year to $2.89 billion and EPS of $2.80, exceeding the $2.48 consensus estimate.
- Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and $508.68 target price, although slowing U.S. procedure growth and forward-demand concerns remain risks.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) Director Gary Guthart sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $4,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,245,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $498,271,600. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Intuitive Surgical Stock Up 0.0%
ISRG stock opened at $401.27 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $392.35 and a 200 day moving average of $442.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.76 billion, a PE ratio of 45.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 52 week low of $328.57 and a 52 week high of $603.88.
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.32. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. Intuitive Surgical's revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current year.
Intuitive Surgical News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Intuitive Surgical this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer upgraded ISRG to Outperform and set a $500 price target, citing the company’s ability to “crowd out” competitors. The firm believes Medtronic’s Hugo and Intuitive’s Ottava systems pose limited near-term threats to the da Vinci franchise because of workflow, operating-room real-estate and adoption challenges. Oppenheimer upgrade report
- Positive Sentiment: Bernstein reiterated its Buy rating and maintained a $685 price target, pointing to progress on Intuitive’s next-generation gastrointestinal platform. Longer term, continued da Vinci 5 adoption, recurring instruments and service revenue, and expansion into additional procedures support the company’s growth outlook. Bernstein rating report
- Positive Sentiment: The ENCOMPASS post-market study is highlighting Intuitive’s opportunity in robotic-assisted lung biopsy. Progress in this clinical program could broaden use of the Ion platform and create additional recurring procedure-related revenue. ENCOMPASS trial report
- Neutral Sentiment: Intuitive’s second-quarter results were strong, with revenue up 18.4% to $2.89 billion and EPS of $2.80 versus the $2.48 consensus estimate. However, investors are focusing more on forward procedure growth than on the earnings beat.
- Negative Sentiment: U.S. procedure growth slowed in the second quarter. Analysts attributed some of the weakness to Affordable Care Act-related care deferrals, which could be temporary, but the issue raises near-term uncertainty around demand and revenue growth. U.S. procedure growth report
- Negative Sentiment: Insiders reported several sales, including Director Gary Guthart’s 10,000-share sale for approximately $4 million and smaller sales by Director Amy Ladd and EVP Gary Loeb. The trades were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their value as a discretionary bearish signal, but they may weigh modestly on sentiment.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the second quarter worth about $628,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the second quarter valued at approximately $565,000. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the second quarter valued at approximately $791,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have commented on ISRG shares. BTIG Research lowered their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $512.00 to $469.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. HSBC cut Intuitive Surgical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $391.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Evercore set a $430.00 target price on Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $590.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.68.
View Our Latest Research Report on Intuitive Surgical
About Intuitive Surgical
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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