Westpac Banking Corp Sells 1,931 Shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

Westpac Banking Corp decreased its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) by 30.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,366 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,931 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $1,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Interchange Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Intuitive Surgical by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 12.6% during the third quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 4.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 857,315 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $383,417,000 after buying an additional 39,433 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Business Bank purchased a new stake in Intuitive Surgical during the third quarter worth $424,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.64% of the company’s stock.

Intuitive Surgical Price Performance

Shares of Intuitive Surgical stock opened at $506.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.24, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $511.26. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 12 month low of $425.00 and a 12 month high of $603.88.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The medical equipment provider reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Intuitive Surgical had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 28.38%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Intuitive Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $740.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $590.00 price target (down from $635.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuitive Surgical

In related news, EVP Myriam Curet sold 421 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.96, for a total transaction of $208,378.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,438.64. This represents a 50.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Brosius sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.36, for a total transaction of $2,463,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,455.52. The trade was a 83.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 56,189 shares of company stock valued at $30,785,441. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.