Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG)

Key Points

• Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. by 2.3% in Q1, holding 41,252 shares valued at approximately $20.4 million after selling 980 shares.
• Other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Invesco Ltd., increased their holdings in Intuitive Surgical, reflecting continued interest in the medical equipment provider.
• Intuitive Surgical recently reported earnings of $2.19 per share for Q2, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 21.4% year-over-year revenue increase.

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,252 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after selling 980 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $20,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,665,531 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $16,178,258,000 after purchasing an additional 453,335 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,219,974 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $2,090,027,000 after purchasing an additional 71,794 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,619,293 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,889,126,000 after purchasing an additional 494,496 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the 1st quarter valued at $1,715,899,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,381,302 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,764,904,000 after buying an additional 687,906 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company's stock.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of Intuitive Surgical stock opened at $477.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $510.29 and a 200 day moving average of $526.13. The firm has a market cap of $171.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.54, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.59. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 1 year low of $425.00 and a 1 year high of $616.00.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.51% and a return on equity of 14.56%. Intuitive Surgical's revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ISRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $600.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Intuitive Surgical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price target (up previously from $590.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $559.00 to $599.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $605.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Intuitive Surgical presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $595.95.

Insider Transactions at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, insider Gary S. Guthart sold 2,800 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.24, for a total value of $1,386,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 18,520 shares in the company, valued at $9,171,844.80. The trade was a 13.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark Brosius sold 216 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.11, for a total transaction of $121,631.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 907 shares of the company's stock, valued at $510,740.77. This represents a 19.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,839 shares of company stock worth $7,896,972 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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