Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $650.00 price target on the medical equipment provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $522.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.99% from the stock’s previous close.

ISRG has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $525.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $489.00 to $502.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $604.00 target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intuitive Surgical presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $536.61.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

Shares of ISRG opened at $541.71 on Monday. Intuitive Surgical has a 1 year low of $304.50 and a 1 year high of $552.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $512.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.53.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.51% and a return on equity of 13.41%. Sell-side analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, CEO Gary S. Guthart sold 18,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.63, for a total value of $9,286,596.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,391,166.97. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jamie Samath sold 108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $542.06, for a total value of $58,542.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,746,819.42. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,023 shares of company stock valued at $26,384,247 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Surgical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ISRG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the third quarter worth $558,807,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 49,383.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,090,619 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $535,788,000 after buying an additional 1,088,415 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Intuitive Surgical by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,971,085 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,389,765,000 after purchasing an additional 838,793 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 15,322.2% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 555,661 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $272,980,000 after purchasing an additional 552,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 40,221.4% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 266,121 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,184,000 after buying an additional 265,461 shares during the period. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Intuitive Surgical

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.