American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

American Century Companies Inc. cut its stake in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,006,387 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 156,853 shares during the quarter. Intuitive Surgical accounts for about 0.5% of American Century Companies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $897,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 3.8% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 928 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 38.0% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 973 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 99.5% in the second quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 1,596 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 15,592 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,473,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ISRG stock opened at $503.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.65. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 12-month low of $425.00 and a 12-month high of $603.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $529.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $511.48.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 28.38%.The company’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Myriam Curet sold 421 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.96, for a total transaction of $208,378.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,438.64. This represents a 50.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Patricia L. Wadors sold 220 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.71, for a total transaction of $109,936.20. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 56,409 shares of company stock valued at $30,895,377 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ISRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $655.00 to $645.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $590.00 price target (down from $635.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $630.00 to $560.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.86.

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.