Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Stock Position in STAAR Surgical Company $STAA

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,363 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,242 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in STAAR Surgical were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Broadwood Capital Inc. raised its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 10,848,631 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $263,513,000 after acquiring an additional 80,200 shares during the last quarter. Yunqi Capital Ltd raised its stake in STAAR Surgical by 152.5% during the 1st quarter. Yunqi Capital Ltd now owns 1,937,589 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $34,160,000 after buying an additional 1,170,176 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in STAAR Surgical by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 853,370 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $20,728,000 after buying an additional 171,046 shares during the last quarter. Defender Capital LLC. raised its stake in STAAR Surgical by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 720,532 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $12,653,000 after buying an additional 18,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in STAAR Surgical by 50.1% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 566,079 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,980,000 after buying an additional 188,830 shares during the last quarter. 96.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

NASDAQ:STAA opened at $27.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.50 and a beta of 0.61. STAAR Surgical Company has a one year low of $13.50 and a one year high of $38.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.52.

STAAR Surgical announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STAA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Monday, April 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $28.00 target price on shares of STAAR Surgical and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.67.

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