Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 2,607 Shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services increased its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 346.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 3,359 shares valued at about $1.9 million.
• Intuitive Surgical posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.50 beating estimates and revenue of $2.77 billion topping expectations, while sales rose 23% year over year.
• Despite insider selling and mixed analyst views, Wall Street still leans bullish on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $581.91.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Free Report) by 346.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,359 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,607 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $1,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ISRG. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 44 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intuitive Surgical news, EVP Myriam Curet sold 105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.95, for a total value of $51,864.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.46, for a total value of $236,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 239 shares in the company, valued at $113,156.94. The trade was a 67.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 5,647 shares of company stock worth $2,760,359 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of ISRG opened at $432.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.40, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.51. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a one year low of $417.74 and a one year high of $603.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $466.62 and a 200 day moving average of $515.53.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical equipment provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.62 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 15.98%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. The company's revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ISRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $575.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $609.00 to $621.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $740.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $651.00 price target on Intuitive Surgical and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $581.91.

Intuitive Surgical Profile

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.

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