STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.63.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on STAA. BTIG Research lowered STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho downgraded STAAR Surgical from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. William Blair downgraded STAAR Surgical from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th.

Insider Activity

In other STAAR Surgical news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. bought 108,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.96 per share, with a total value of $1,952,611.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,182,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,806,590.20. This trade represents a 0.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 937,614 shares of company stock valued at $15,384,739. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of STAAR Surgical

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STAA. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in STAAR Surgical by 1,693.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,044 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in STAAR Surgical by 1,564.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,679 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,518 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in STAAR Surgical during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $180,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical during the first quarter valued at approximately $189,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical during the first quarter valued at approximately $190,000. 96.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

STAAR Surgical Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of STAAR Surgical stock opened at $16.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $825.60 million, a PE ratio of -40.66 and a beta of 0.63. STAAR Surgical has a 52 week low of $13.50 and a 52 week high of $49.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.59.

STAAR Surgical declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, May 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About STAAR Surgical

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 implantable Collamer lens product family (ICLs) to treat visual disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia.