Short Interest in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Grows By 8.5%

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,850,000 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the October 15th total of 3,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, General Counsel Gary Loeb sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $142,500.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 1,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $757,625. This represents a 15.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jamie Samath sold 22,903 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total value of $12,024,075.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,597,425. This trade represents a 72.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,178 shares of company stock worth $45,897,071. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 519 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the third quarter valued at approximately $525,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 26.2% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,561 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,773,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,512,925 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,677,194,000 after purchasing an additional 143,440 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ISRG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $495.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $512.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $466.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.61.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ISRG traded up $4.03 on Monday, reaching $531.64. 1,267,911 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,460,418. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $499.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $458.50. Intuitive Surgical has a 12 month low of $304.50 and a 12 month high of $544.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.39.

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

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.