First Trust Advisors LP Trims Holdings in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,970 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after selling 5,972 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $68,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Intuitive Surgical in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ISRG shares. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Intuitive Surgical from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $640.00 to $711.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $670.00 to $575.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Leerink Partners upped their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $490.00 to $548.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $598.95.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of ISRG traded up $20.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $508.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,282,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,611,252. The company has a market cap of $180.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.27, a PEG ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 1.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $513.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $532.19. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 1-year low of $367.39 and a 1-year high of $616.00.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.19 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 27.81%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jamie Samath sold 94 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.11, for a total value of $53,684.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,502,019.30. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Desantis sold 11,545 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.22, for a total value of $5,763,494.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,607,925.28. The trade was a 68.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,754 shares of company stock worth $17,691,621 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.