Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Short Interest Up 5.3% in August

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,940,000 shares, an increase of 5.3% from the August 15th total of 3,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Up 0.3 %

ISRG stock opened at $491.39 on Tuesday. Intuitive Surgical has a 12-month low of $254.85 and a 12-month high of $496.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $464.67 and its 200 day moving average is $422.79. The stock has a market cap of $174.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.70, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 1.39.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.24. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 13.04% and a net margin of 27.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuitive Surgical news, insider Mark Brosius sold 2,115 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.91, for a total value of $1,040,389.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $145,113.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Mark Brosius sold 2,115 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.91, for a total value of $1,040,389.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $145,113.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig H. Barratt sold 1,400 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.13, for a total value of $641,382.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,120 shares of company stock valued at $25,528,753. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,868,620 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,319,358,000 after acquiring an additional 493,126 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,973,266 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,726,102,000 after buying an additional 272,741 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,284,269 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,907,079,000 after purchasing an additional 73,634 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC grew its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 5,131,066 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,731,016,000 after buying an additional 374,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 4.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,488,343 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,791,253,000 after acquiring an additional 198,483 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ISRG. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $475.00 to $495.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $512.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $487.00 to $503.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $430.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $446.45.

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.