Defender Capital LLC. Takes $15.43 Million Position in STAAR Surgical Company $STAA

Defender Capital LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 668,222 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $15,429,000. STAAR Surgical accounts for approximately 5.0% of Defender Capital LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Defender Capital LLC. owned about 1.34% of STAAR Surgical as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STAA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in STAAR Surgical by 2,605.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,055 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 691.0% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,607 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 3,151 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 375.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,919 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 4,673 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 9,928.9% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares during the period. 96.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at STAAR Surgical

In related news, Director Broadwood Partners, L.P. purchased 316,017 shares of STAAR Surgical stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.61 per share, for a total transaction of $5,881,076.37. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 16,123,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,064,699.62. The trade was a 2.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired 1,104,351 shares of company stock valued at $21,690,426 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STAA has been the topic of several recent research reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on STAAR Surgical in a research report on Friday, January 16th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $13.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $30.75 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $19.21.

STAAR Surgical Stock Performance

STAA stock opened at $19.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.17. STAAR Surgical Company has a 52-week low of $14.69 and a 52-week high of $30.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $950.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.77 and a beta of 1.05.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $57.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.54 million. STAAR Surgical had a negative return on equity of 10.03% and a negative net margin of 33.60%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that STAAR Surgical Company will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. It markets its products to health care providers, including ophthalmic surgeons, vision and surgical centers, hospitals, government facilities, and distributors, as well as products are primarily used by ophthalmologists.