Short Interest in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Decreases By 5.6%

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,220,000 shares, a decrease of 5.6% from the March 31st total of 3,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Marshall Mohr sold 108,790 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.08, for a total transaction of $41,892,853.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 26,877 shares in the company, valued at $10,349,795.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Intuitive Surgical news, Director Alan J. Levy sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total value of $741,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,385,753.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Marshall Mohr sold 108,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.08, for a total transaction of $41,892,853.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 26,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,349,795.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 225,093 shares of company stock worth $87,153,299 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ISRG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 4th quarter valued at $1,313,238,000. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 4th quarter valued at $575,536,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 32,360.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 686,865 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $231,721,000 after purchasing an additional 684,749 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 111.7% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,285,565 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $513,056,000 after purchasing an additional 678,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 113.2% during the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,276,158 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $430,525,000 after purchasing an additional 677,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Down 0.5 %

ISRG stock traded down $1.81 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $372.33. The company had a trading volume of 384,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,634,673. Intuitive Surgical has a 1 year low of $254.85 and a 1 year high of $403.76. The company has a market capitalization of $132.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.53, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $386.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $347.50.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Intuitive Surgical will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ISRG. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $412.00 to $421.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $363.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.17.

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.