Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG Shares Acquired by Fred Alger Management LLC

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 30% in the fourth quarter, ending with 350,972 shares worth about $198.8 million.
• Analysts remain generally bullish on ISRG, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $573.42, despite some recent target cuts from firms like UBS and Jefferies.
• Intuitive Surgical reported strong quarterly results, posting $2.50 EPS versus the $2.08 estimate and $2.77 billion in revenue, while company insiders sold shares in recent months.

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Free Report) by 30.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 350,972 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 81,062 shares during the quarter. Intuitive Surgical makes up approximately 0.8% of Fred Alger Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Fred Alger Management LLC owned 0.10% of Intuitive Surgical worth $198,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ISRG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the fourth quarter worth about $2,856,987,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1,043.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,342,121 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $760,124,000 after buying an additional 1,224,734 shares in the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the fourth quarter worth about $477,225,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 106.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,533,771 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $868,667,000 after buying an additional 791,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 29.7% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 3,227,472 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,451,362,000 after buying an additional 739,444 shares in the last quarter. 83.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ISRG. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $574.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $570.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays set a $651.00 price target on Intuitive Surgical and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on Intuitive Surgical and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Intuitive Surgical presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $573.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 119 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.50, for a total value 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 represents a 49.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.14, for a total value 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. The trade was 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 valued at $3,059,135. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ISRG opened at $417.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $441.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $493.43. The company has a market capitalization of $147.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 52-week low of $396.68 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 28.15%.The company's revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intuitive Surgical Company 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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