Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) Stock

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has raised its price target for Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) from $599 to $600, indicating a potential upside of 10.78% from the stock's previous closing price.
• Despite the bullish outlook from Wells Fargo, Zacks Research downgraded ISRG from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating, contributing to mixed sentiments among analysts regarding the stock.
• Intuitive Surgical reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.99 and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 22.9%.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $599.00 to $600.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the medical equipment provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.78% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on ISRG. Zacks Research cut Intuitive Surgical from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Intuitive Surgical from $595.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $599.68.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

Shares of ISRG stock traded up $78.89 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $541.63. 2,323,641 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,078,911. Intuitive Surgical has a twelve month low of $425.00 and a twelve month high of $616.00. The firm has a market cap of $194.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $454.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $495.58.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical equipment provider reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 28.51%.The business had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 335 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.69, for a total transaction of $147,631.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 739 shares of the company's stock, valued at $325,669.91. The trade was a 31.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Gary S. Guthart sold 29,360 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.49, for a total value of $13,872,306.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,368,059.23. This trade represents a 59.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,224 shares of company stock valued at $21,716,492 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 614.3% during the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 50 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Tobam lifted its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 666.7% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 46 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Intuitive Surgical during the first quarter worth about $30,000. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Intuitive Surgical Company Profile

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.

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