STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $17.62, but opened at $16.45. STAAR Surgical shares last traded at $17.76, with a volume of 96,771 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on STAA. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on STAAR Surgical from $38.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. William Blair cut shares of STAAR Surgical from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.29.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $866.10 million, a P/E ratio of -42.79 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.02.

Insider Buying and Selling at STAAR Surgical

In other news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 21,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.46 per share, for a total transaction of $453,986.30. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 10,869,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $233,265,607.56. This represents a 0.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 857,343 shares of company stock worth $14,213,132. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STAA. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical during the 3rd quarter valued at $128,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in STAAR Surgical during the 4th quarter worth about $180,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC boosted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 10,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306 shares during the period. 96.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.