Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) Short Interest Up 8.5% in October

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,850,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the October 15th total of 3,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Intuitive Surgical Stock Performance

NASDAQ ISRG opened at $527.61 on Monday. Intuitive Surgical has a 52-week low of $295.02 and a 52-week high of $544.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $499.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $458.50. The company has a market capitalization of $187.92 billion, a PE ratio of 84.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.39.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The medical equipment provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.32. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 28.51% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Intuitive Surgical will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ISRG shares. Evercore ISI reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $440.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $538.00 price target (up previously from $495.00) on shares of Intuitive Surgical in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Intuitive Surgical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $510.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.61.

Insider Transactions at Intuitive Surgical

In other news, EVP Robert Desantis sold 188 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.21, for a total transaction of $90,655.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,655,048.26. This represents a 3.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Henry L. Charlton sold 40,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.84, for a total value of $19,591,902.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,461,006.84. This represents a 93.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,178 shares of company stock valued at $45,897,071 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intuitive Surgical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,050,121 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $7,393,673,000 after purchasing an additional 210,363 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Intuitive Surgical by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,971,085 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,389,765,000 after buying an additional 838,793 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,512,925 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,677,194,000 after acquiring an additional 143,440 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,284,269 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,907,079,000 after acquiring an additional 73,634 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Intuitive Surgical by 1.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,782,381 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,349,441,000 after purchasing an additional 86,208 shares in the last quarter. 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.