Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Has $1.80 Million Position in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. $ISRG

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its position in Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,318 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Intuitive Surgical comprises about 0.9% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Intuitive Surgical were worth $1,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ISRG. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Surgical in the first quarter worth $1,715,899,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 26.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,819,666 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,396,496,000 after purchasing an additional 584,375 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 20.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,393,951 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,680,922,000 after purchasing an additional 566,979 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 15.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,499,052 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,732,975,000 after purchasing an additional 457,080 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Intuitive Surgical by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,665,531 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $16,178,258,000 after purchasing an additional 453,335 shares during the period. 83.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intuitive Surgical Trading Down 0.9%

Intuitive Surgical stock opened at $546.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $195.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.61. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. has a 1-year low of $425.00 and a 1-year high of $616.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $458.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $497.02.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical equipment provider reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.58% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical, Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ISRG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $685.00 target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Intuitive Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $602.32.

Insider Transactions at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, insider Gary S. Guthart sold 29,360 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.49, for a total value of $13,872,306.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 19,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,368,059.23. This trade represents a 59.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amy L. Ladd sold 336 shares of Intuitive Surgical stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.11, for a total transaction of $157,956.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,898.14. This trade represents a 23.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,724 shares of company stock valued at $19,500,332. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.