Squarepoint Ops LLC Grows Stock Holdings in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA)

Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Free Report) by 81.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 117,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 52,488 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.24% of STAAR Surgical worth $2,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STAA. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 10,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $298,000. 96.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $45.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of STAAR Surgical from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 8,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.08 per share, with a total value of $123,656.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,518,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,860,352.28. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders bought 1,187,117 shares of company stock worth $19,536,469 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

Shares of STAA stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 752,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 830,513. The company has a market capitalization of $884.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.56 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $17.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.81. STAAR Surgical has a 1-year low of $13.50 and a 1-year high of $49.86.

STAAR Surgical announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, May 16th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.