Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Short Interest Down 16.6% in November

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) saw a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,460,000 shares, a decrease of 16.6% from the November 15th total of 4,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ISRG opened at $539.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $192.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.75, a P/E/G ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 1.38. Intuitive Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $320.26 and a fifty-two week high of $556.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $521.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $478.46.

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

Insider Activity

In other Intuitive Surgical news, CFO Jamie Samath sold 108 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $542.06, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Desantis sold 188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.52, for a total transaction of $95,225.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,788,899.12. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,190 shares of company stock valued at $25,012,927. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Surgical

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 5.8% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 362 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 4.1% in the third quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 503 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.6% in the third quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 0.3% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,386 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 3.4% in the second quarter. One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC now owns 697 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ISRG shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $567.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $503.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $535.00 to $561.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $525.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.28.

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.