In a report issued on July 20, Sean Lavin from BTIG assigned a Hold rating to Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG). The company’s shares closed on Friday at $516.78, close to its 52-week high of $538.98.
Lavin said:
“Surgical reported another sweep this quarter, exceeding consensus expectations on every key metric: procedures, systems, sales, and EPS. The company shipped 220 systems in Q2, well above our 197 units and the Street’s 191 units. As in recent quarters, a significant portion (20%) of these systems were placed under operating leases. We view this as a smart strategy that is helping boost procedure growth. Procedure volume increased ~18% y/y in the quarter, again eclipsing expectations. Instrument segments exceeded consensus estimates too. We think the factors underlying repeated outperformances are likely to continue for some time and there are exciting product catalysts on the way. We remain at Neutral, as shares trade at ~57x NTM EPS, which we think excessive. Still, this stock keeps motoring upwards and may keep doing so as long as this med tech bull market continues.”
According to TipRanks.com, Lavin is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 15.7% and a 65.0% success rate. Lavin covers the Healthcare sector, focusing on stocks such as Helius Medical Technologies, Tactile Systems Technology, and Obalon Therapeutics Inc.
Intuitive Surgical has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $541.88, which is a 4.9% upside from current levels. In a report issued on July 19, Piper Jaffray also reiterated a Hold rating on the stock with a $540 price target.
.
See today’s analyst top recommended stocks >>
Based on Intuitive Surgical’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending June 30, the company reported a quarterly net profit of $255 million. In comparison, last year the company had a net profit of $222 million.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 97 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. Most recently, in May 2018, Curet Myriam, the EVP & Chief Medical Officer of ISRG sold 8,078 shares for a total of $3,809,262.
TipRanks has tracked 36,000 company insiders and found that a few of them are better than others when it comes to timing their transactions. See which 3 stocks are most likely to make moves following their insider activities.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of da Vinci Surgical Systems, and related instruments and accessories for invasive surgery. The company was founded by Frederic H. Moll, John Gordon Freund, and Robert G. Younge in November 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA.
