Short Interest in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Grows By 6.9%

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,700,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the November 30th total of 3,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $525.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $604.00 price objective on Intuitive Surgical in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $535.00 to $561.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $570.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $554.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, EVP Robert Desantis sold 376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.00, for a total value of $202,664.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,967,734. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jamie Samath sold 108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,190 shares of company stock worth $25,012,927. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.4% during the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 3,526 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 7,427 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 8,099 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 617.1% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 89,069 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,622,000 after purchasing an additional 76,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,052,800 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $517,209,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ISRG opened at $521.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $185.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.92, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.38. Intuitive Surgical has a 52-week low of $320.26 and a 52-week high of $556.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $531.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $489.45.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.32. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.51% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.