First Trust Advisors LP Sells 30,152 Shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) by 16.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,731 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 30,152 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $69,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after buying an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 928 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 38.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 973 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 8.8% during the second quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,933 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,485,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of Intuitive Surgical stock opened at $485.85 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $518.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $512.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.66. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $425.00 and a fifty-two week high of $603.88.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.26. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.38% and a return on equity of 15.06%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Myriam Curet sold 421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.96, for a total transaction of $208,378.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,438.64. The trade was a 50.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary S. Guthart sold 24,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.10, for a total value of $12,987,450.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,958,189.40. This trade represents a 86.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 37,802 shares of company stock valued at $19,945,322 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ISRG shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $655.00 to $645.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Argus lowered their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $630.00 to $560.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Intuitive Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $616.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intuitive Surgical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.86.

Intuitive Surgical Company Profile

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.