Employees Provident Fund Board Makes New Investment in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

Key Points

• Employees Provident Fund Board disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Intuitive Surgical, buying 438,533 shares valued at about $248.4 million. The position now represents roughly 1.8% of its portfolio and makes ISRG its 19th-largest holding.
• Wall Street sentiment remains generally positive, with analysts assigning Intuitive Surgical a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $573.42. That said, several firms trimmed targets, and Deutsche Bank maintained a rare sell rating.
• Intuitive Surgical reported strong quarterly results, posting $2.50 EPS versus the $2.08 estimate and revenue of $2.77 billion, up 23% year over year. Despite the beat, the stock was trading well below its highs, opening at $406.78 against a 52-week high of $603.88.

Employees Provident Fund Board acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 438,533 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $248,368,000. Intuitive Surgical comprises approximately 1.8% of Employees Provident Fund Board's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Employees Provident Fund Board owned 0.12% of Intuitive Surgical as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riversedge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 901 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 920 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 4,033 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,804,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Sunburst Financial Group LLC raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 485 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 4,180 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $2,367,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ISRG. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $574.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. HSBC lowered their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $653.00 to $604.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $440.00 to $366.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Evercore lowered their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $550.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $573.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Iman Jeddi sold 5,625 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.55, for a total transaction of $2,365,593.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,718,014.65. This trade represents a 46.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.14, for a total transaction of $169,656.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,426,080.80. This represents a 6.54% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,169 shares of company stock worth $3,059,135. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ISRG opened at $406.78 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $438.43 and a 200-day moving average of $490.46. The company has a market capitalization of $144.07 billion, a PE ratio of 49.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a one year low of $396.68 and a one year high of $603.88.

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

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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