Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Intuitive Surgical shares gapped down after Stifel Nicolaus cut its price target from $670 to $550, even while keeping a buy rating. The stock opened well below its prior close and continued trading lower.
• Other analysts have also trimmed their price targets recently, though most still maintain bullish ratings. MarketBeat says the consensus rating remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $530.92.
• The article also notes insider selling, including recent stock sales by Director Amy L. Ladd and EVP Gary Loeb. Insiders have sold 7,169 shares worth about $3.06 million over the last three months.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $670.00 to $550.00. The stock had previously closed at $402.33, but opened at $365.03. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Intuitive Surgical shares last traded at $355.9240, with a volume of 2,263,369 shares traded.

ISRG has been the subject of several other reports. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $653.00 to $604.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $440.00 to $366.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $580.00 price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $625.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Intuitive Surgical from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuitive Surgical currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $530.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intuitive Surgical news, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 119 shares of the firm's 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 owned 120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,620. This trade represents a 49.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Gary Loeb sold 400 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.14, for a total value of $169,656.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,720 shares in the company, valued at $2,426,080.80. The trade was a 6.54% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 7,169 shares of company stock valued at $3,059,135 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Intuitive Surgical News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Intuitive Surgical reported stronger-than-expected Q2 results, with revenue and profit topping estimates on continued demand for its da Vinci robotic surgery systems. The company also said worldwide procedures grew solidly, including strong growth in Ion and da Vinci usage. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street firms still kept bullish ratings after trimming price targets, including Stifel, Citi, BTIG, Baird, Leerink, Sanford Bernstein, and Truist, suggesting analysts continue to see upside from current levels despite the pullback. Benzinga analyst target updates
• Neutral Sentiment: Management maintained its 2026 forecast for procedure growth, which signals confidence in the long-term story, but it did not raise guidance enough to fully satisfy investors. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are falling because the company warned that changes to some insurance plans could slow U.S. procedure growth, raising concerns that near-term demand may be weaker than hoped. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment was also dampened by the company’s procedure-growth outlook, which appears to have missed elevated expectations despite the earnings beat, leading to a selloff in the stock. Invezz article

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Intuitive Surgical during the 4th quarter worth about $2,856,987,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 18,504.6% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,127,248 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,204,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,115,814 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 1,043.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,224,734 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Intuitive Surgical by 95.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,105,544 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $970,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the fourth quarter worth about $477,225,000. 83.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $417.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $468.74. The stock has a market cap of $127.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.62, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.46.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.42. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 28.15%.The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. The company's revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current 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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