STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) gapped up before the market opened on Friday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $42.14, but opened at $43.50. STAAR Surgical shares last traded at $45.25, with a volume of 92,349 shares.

Specifically, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. purchased 60,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $41.26 per share, with a total value of $2,511,661.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 8,973,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,227,795.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Aimee S. Weisner acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $48.72 per share, with a total value of $97,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,916.24. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 60,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.26 per share, with a total value of $2,511,661.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 8,973,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,227,795.44. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 83,018 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,531. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on STAA. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. William Blair lowered shares of STAAR Surgical from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $75.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of STAAR Surgical from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of STAAR Surgical from $85.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.10.

STAAR Surgical Stock Up 4.1 %

The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.70 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.48.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.04. STAAR Surgical had a net margin of 8.14% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The company had revenue of $92.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.04 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that STAAR Surgical will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in STAAR Surgical by 96.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 12,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 23.5% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 18.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,287 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 139,573 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,153,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

STAAR Surgical Company Profile

STAAR Surgical Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells implantable lenses for the eye, and companion delivery systems to deliver the lenses into the eye. The company provides Visian implantable Collamer lens product family (ICLs) to treat visual disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia; and Hyperopic ICL, which treats far-sightedness.