Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Shares Acquired by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG - Free Report) by 66.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,409 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,168 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $5,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,212,196 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $16,813,478,000 after purchasing an additional 360,591 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,756,727 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $4,039,200,000 after purchasing an additional 243,802 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,868,869 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $2,541,356,000 after purchasing an additional 86,488 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Intuitive Surgical in the 4th quarter worth $2,401,493,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,148,180 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $2,165,184,000 after acquiring an additional 295,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Surgical

In related news, EVP Brian Edward Miller sold 8,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.07, for a total value of $4,317,123.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,793,033.06. This represents a 60.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Fredrik Widman sold 810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $573.78, for a total value of $464,761.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 473 shares of the company's stock, valued at $271,397.94. This trade represents a 63.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,454 shares of company stock valued at $18,564,027. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ISRG. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $510.00 to $470.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bernstein Bank raised their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $575.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $640.00 to $711.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Intuitive Surgical from $684.00 to $635.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $598.95.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ISRG traded up $6.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $514.59. 2,015,889 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,617,024. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $367.39 and a fifty-two week high of $616.00. The firm has a market cap of $183.29 billion, a PE ratio of 80.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $533.05.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.10. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 27.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 EPS 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.