Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by HSBC

Key Points

• HSBC downgraded Intuitive Surgical to “Hold” from “Buy” and set a $391 price target, implying approximately 10.7% upside from the reported share price.
• Despite the downgrade, analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 20 analysts rate the stock “Buy,” eight rate it “Hold,” and one rates it “Sell,” producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $509.02 average price target.
• Intuitive Surgical recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $2.80 in adjusted earnings per share and $2.89 billion in revenue, with revenue rising 18.4% year over year; shares nevertheless remain well below their 52-week high.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at HSBC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $391.00 price target on the medical equipment provider's stock. HSBC's price target indicates a potential upside of 10.73% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $483.00 price target (down from $577.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, July 17th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $509.02.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of ISRG opened at $353.10 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $401.70 and a 200-day moving average of $454.32. The company has a market capitalization of $124.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.46. Intuitive Surgical has a 1 year low of $328.57 and a 1 year high of $603.88.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 28.45%.The firm's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Intuitive Surgical will post 8.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.14, for a total transaction of $169,656.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,426,080.80. This represents a 6.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Iman Jeddi sold 5,625 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.55, for a total value of $2,365,593.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,718,014.65. The trade was a 46.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,606 shares of company stock worth $2,786,967. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ISRG. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,701,591 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $8,892,753,000 after buying an additional 162,264 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,856,018 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $4,449,491,000 after acquiring an additional 127,526 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter worth about $2,856,987,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,128,735 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $2,338,350,000 after acquiring an additional 611,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Intuitive Surgical by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,616,973 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,667,388,000 after acquiring an additional 116,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.64% of the company's stock.

About Intuitive Surgical

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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