Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Boosts Stake in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

Key Points

• Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 24% in Q1, owning 11,845 shares valued at approximately $5.87 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Dark Forest Capital Management LP and First Manhattan CO. LLC, also grew their positions in Intuitive Surgical during the first quarter, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Insider selling was noted, with SVP Mark Brosius and insider Gary S. Guthart selling a combined total of 29,576 shares, reflecting a significant decrease in their respective positions within the company.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its holdings in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Free Report) by 24.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,845 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,291 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $5,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $16,178,258,000 after acquiring an additional 453,335 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 1.7% in the first 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,631,281 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,798,465,000 after acquiring an additional 11,988 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 15.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,499,052 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,732,975,000 after buying an additional 457,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the first quarter valued at $1,715,899,000. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ISRG shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Intuitive Surgical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $590.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intuitive Surgical presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $595.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gary S. Guthart sold 29,360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.49, for a total transaction of $13,872,306.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,827 shares in the company, valued at $9,368,059.23. The trade was a 59.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Myriam Curet sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.48, for a total value of $2,216,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $173,845.44. This represents a 92.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,224 shares of company stock worth $21,716,492 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

NASDAQ ISRG traded up $3.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $470.00. 1,925,953 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,022,766. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $494.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $512.08. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 52 week low of $425.00 and a 52 week high of $616.00. The company has a market cap of $168.49 billion, a PE ratio of 65.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.61.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 28.51%.The business's revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

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.