Forsta AP Fonden Decreases Stock Holdings in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden cut its Intuitive Surgical stake by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,220 shares and leaving it with 85,680 shares valued at about $48.5 million.
• Intuitive Surgical posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.50 versus $2.08 expected and revenue of $2.77 billion versus $2.62 billion forecast. Revenue rose 23% year over year.
• Despite some insider selling and a stock price well below its 52-week high, analysts remain broadly positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $576.71, above its recent trading level around $424.59.

Forsta AP Fonden decreased its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,680 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after selling 6,220 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $48,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,599,661 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $15,026,776,000 after purchasing an additional 263,828 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 1.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,728,492 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $3,456,223,000 after purchasing an additional 116,034 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the fourth quarter valued at $2,856,987,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Intuitive Surgical by 1.1% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,889,439 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,739,475,000 after acquiring an additional 40,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Intuitive Surgical by 29.7% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 3,227,472 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,451,362,000 after acquiring an additional 739,444 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company's stock.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Intuitive Surgical stock opened at $424.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $150.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.51. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.30 and a 1 year high of $603.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $453.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $506.43.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical equipment provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. Research analysts expect that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Surgical

In other Intuitive Surgical news, SVP Mark Brosius sold 645 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.01, for a total value of $312,831.45. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $782,321.13. The trade was a 28.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 119 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.50, for a total transaction of $55,156.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,620. This trade represents a 49.79% 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 sold 5,481 shares of company stock valued at $2,673,871 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Intuitive Surgical

Here are the key news stories impacting Intuitive Surgical this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street optimism is supporting the stock, with one article arguing Intuitive Surgical could rise more than 30% from current levels because analysts believe the long-term growth story remains intact and the recent selloff has created an attractive entry point. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Intuitive Surgical announced a leadership change in commercial and marketing, promoting Taylor Patton to Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer effective July 1, which may be viewed as a continuity move that could support execution and sales strategy. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary noted the stock is still trading well below its recent high, underscoring that investor caution remains elevated even though the company continues to be viewed as a leader in robotic-assisted surgery. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-party market reports described ISRG as underperforming peers and highlighted recent short-interest data, but the figures did not show a clear new bearish catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Intuitive Surgical also appeared in broader “physical AI” and robotics commentary, which is more of a thematic mention than a company-specific catalyst for the stock. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $558.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $650.00 to $580.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $570.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $653.00 to $604.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Intuitive Surgical from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Nineteen 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $576.71.

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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