Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Intuitive Surgical shares hit a new 52-week low after JPMorgan cut its price target to $450 from $550, even while keeping an overweight rating. The stock traded as low as $342.10 amid the downgrade-driven selloff.
• Other analysts also trimmed their outlooks, including TD Cowen, Robert W. Baird, Stifel Nicolaus, and Wells Fargo, though the overall consensus remains Moderate Buy with an average target of $523.46.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, with quarterly EPS of $2.50 on revenue of $2.77 billion, but the stock has still fallen below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Insiders have also been selling shares recently, adding to investor caution.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $550.00 to $450.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Intuitive Surgical traded as low as $342.10 and last traded at $346.0910, with a volume of 1394898 shares. The stock had previously closed at $345.42.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ISRG. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $585.00 to $520.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Intuitive Surgical from $670.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $487.00 price objective (down from $654.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $523.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Iman Jeddi sold 5,625 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,718,014.65. The trade was a 46.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.14, for a total transaction of $169,656.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,426,080.80. The trade was a 6.54% decrease in their position. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 7,169 shares of company stock valued at $3,059,135. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Surgical

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Intuitive Surgical by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 44 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 833.3% during the fourth quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. now owns 56 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 83.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $415.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.12 billion, a PE ratio of 39.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.46.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical equipment provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.42. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 28.45%.The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

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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