JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in STAAR Surgical Company $STAA

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut its stake in STAAR Surgical by 73.4% in the third quarter, selling 112,649 shares and leaving 40,722 shares worth about $1.09 million.
• STAAR missed its most recent quarter (EPS $(0.37) vs. $0.14 estimate; revenue $57.8M vs. $75.5M) but revenue rose 18% year-over-year and the company issued a bullish sales outlook with preliminary Q1 sales well ahead of expectations, which lifted the stock.
• Insiders — notably Broadwood Partners — bought significant shares (316,017), institutional investors own about 96.7% of the company, and analysts are mixed with a consensus rating of Hold and a $19.93 target price.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in shares of STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA - Free Report) by 73.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,722 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 112,649 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.08% of STAAR Surgical worth $1,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,390 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 33.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 544,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $9,606,000 after purchasing an additional 136,390 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 11.6% in the first 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 worth $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 12,841 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 19.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,695 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 2,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the second quarter worth approximately $326,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.70% of the company's stock.

STAAR Surgical Trading Up 4.9%

STAA opened at $26.44 on Friday. STAAR Surgical Company has a 1-year low of $15.42 and a 1-year high of $30.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -16.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $18.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.63.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) last released 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). STAAR Surgical had a negative return on equity of 10.03% and a negative net margin of 33.60%.The business had revenue of $57.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.54 million. The company's revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that STAAR Surgical Company will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STAAR Surgical news, Director Broadwood Partners, L.P. purchased 316,017 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.61 per share, for a total transaction of $5,881,076.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,123,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $300,064,699.62. The trade was a 2.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 670,213 shares of company stock valued at $12,266,249 in the last 90 days. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Friday, January 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research restated a "neutral" rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STAAR Surgical to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.93.

STAAR Surgical News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting STAAR Surgical this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Preliminary Q1 net sales came in well ahead of expectations (sales more than doubled vs. year-ago), signaling stronger demand and improving revenue momentum for STAA. Preliminary Net Sales
• Positive Sentiment: STAAR issued a bullish sales outlook (coverage cites a ~$90M sales outlook), which investors interpreted as “blowout” guidance versus prior expectations and lifted sentiment. Blowout Sales Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Canaccord Genuity upgraded STAA from Hold to Buy and raised its price target to $27, adding credible analyst support to the rally. Canaccord Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush raised its price target to $26 but maintained a Neutral rating, a modestly constructive move that stops short of a full buy call. Wedbush Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad market coverage (Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha, MarketWatch and others) increased visibility and trading volume; media attention can amplify intraday moves but doesn’t change fundamentals by itself. Bloomberg Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: STAAR still has a recent history of negative EPS and missed consensus in its March quarter report; profitability remains a concern and analysts still forecast negative full‑year EPS. Profitability Background
• Neutral Sentiment: The company reportedly updated Q1 guidance in a brief release but the published entry lacked a clear EPS figure; investors should watch the formal filing/earnings release for details. Guidance Note

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.

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