GSA Capital Partners LLP Takes Position in STAAR Surgical Company $STAA

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners opened a new position in STAAR Surgical, buying 39,390 shares valued at about $910,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating on STAA, with an average price target of $27.81 after several firms recently adjusted targets.
• Insider and institutional activity remains strong, with insiders buying 670,213 shares over the last three months and institutional investors owning 96.7% of the company.

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 39,390 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $910,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned about 0.08% of STAAR Surgical at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STAA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,390 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 544,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $9,606,000 after acquiring an additional 136,390 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,347 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 12,841 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,695 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 183.2% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 153,371 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,574,000 after acquiring an additional 99,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on STAA. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $18.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $16.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.81.

Insider Transactions at STAAR Surgical

In other STAAR Surgical news, Director Broadwood Partners, L.P. bought 316,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.61 per share, with a total value of $5,881,076.37. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,123,842 shares in the company, valued at $300,064,699.62. This trade represents a 2.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 670,213 shares of company stock worth $12,266,249. 39.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

STAAR Surgical Stock Down 1.0%

STAA opened at $32.47 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.86. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of -75.51 and a beta of 1.20. STAAR Surgical Company has a 1 year low of $15.59 and a 1 year high of $35.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 5.12.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $93.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.72 million. STAAR Surgical had a negative net margin of 7.24% and a positive return on equity of 3.31%. The company's revenue was up 119.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.10) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that STAAR Surgical Company will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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 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.

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