Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd Sells 108,992 Shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lowered its stake in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) by 12.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 770,716 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 108,992 shares during the quarter. Intuitive Surgical accounts for approximately 3.4% of Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $344,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,569,260,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the third quarter worth $388,436,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,335,833 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,115,025,000 after acquiring an additional 670,302 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,122,390 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,696,738,000 after acquiring an additional 528,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Intuitive Surgical by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 788,328 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $428,386,000 after acquiring an additional 371,806 shares during the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gary S. Guthart sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total transaction of $1,488,256.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,355,494.40. This represents a 15.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Brosius sold 464 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $548.49, for a total transaction of $254,499.36. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $71,852.19. This represents a 77.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 73,616 shares of company stock worth $40,929,575. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ISRG has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC increased their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $644.00 to $653.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $603.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.23.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Up 2.5%

Intuitive Surgical stock opened at $488.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $173.36 billion, a PE ratio of 61.87, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.65. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 12-month low of $425.00 and a 12-month high of $609.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $549.63 and its 200 day moving average is $510.54.

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

About Intuitive Surgical

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.