STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Lifted to "Outperform" at William Blair

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at William Blair from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $33.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.63.

STAAR Surgical Stock Performance

STAA stock traded up $3.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $48.68. 1,864,355 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 757,157. STAAR Surgical has a 52 week low of $26.66 and a 52 week high of $73.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.21 and a beta of 0.86.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.94 million. STAAR Surgical had a net margin of 6.62% and a return on equity of 8.73%. STAAR Surgical's revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. Research analysts forecast that STAAR Surgical will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at STAAR Surgical

In related news, Director Aimee S. Weisner purchased 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.11 per share, for a total transaction of $66,692.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $414,027.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other STAAR Surgical news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 4,042 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.11 per share, with a total value of $109,578.62. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 10,768,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at $291,932,137.30. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Aimee S. Weisner purchased 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.11 per share, for a total transaction of $66,692.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $414,027.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of STAAR Surgical

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Broadwood Capital Inc. raised its position in STAAR Surgical by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 10,537,835 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $328,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,408 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 8.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,339,320 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $333,258,000 after buying an additional 486,781 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,468,710 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $170,678,000 after buying an additional 43,083 shares during the period. Anatole Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in STAAR Surgical during the first quarter worth about $130,633,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 4.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,754,495 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $92,234,000 after buying an additional 71,351 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.