Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Competitors

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) and DexCom (NASDAQ:DXCM) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Is ISRG or DXCM more profitable?

Intuitive Surgical has a net margin of 28.51% compared to DexCom's net margin of 13.29%. DexCom's return on equity of 30.41% beat Intuitive Surgical's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intuitive Surgical	28.51%	14.56%	12.93%
DexCom	13.29%	30.41%	10.08%

Which has more volatility and risk, ISRG or DXCM?

Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DexCom has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in ISRG or DXCM?

83.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.8% of DexCom shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of DexCom shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer ISRG or DXCM?

In the previous week, Intuitive Surgical had 45 more articles in the media than DexCom. MarketBeat recorded 67 mentions for Intuitive Surgical and 22 mentions for DexCom. Intuitive Surgical's average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat DexCom's score of 0.72 indicating that Intuitive Surgical is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Intuitive Surgical	45 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
DexCom	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation and earnings, ISRG or DXCM?

Intuitive Surgical has higher revenue and earnings than DexCom. DexCom is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuitive Surgical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intuitive Surgical	$8.35B	19.30	$2.32B	$7.17	62.72
DexCom	$4.03B	6.45	$576.20M	$1.44	46.08

Do analysts rate ISRG or DXCM?

Intuitive Surgical currently has a consensus target price of $594.19, suggesting a potential upside of 32.13%. DexCom has a consensus target price of $98.32, suggesting a potential upside of 48.16%. Given DexCom's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe DexCom is more favorable than Intuitive Surgical.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intuitive Surgical	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.59
DexCom	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87

Summary

Intuitive Surgical beats DexCom on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.