STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Stock Position Trimmed by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp cut its stake in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Free Report) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 521,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 105,846 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.06% of STAAR Surgical worth $12,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STAA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in STAAR Surgical by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,855,570 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $142,232,000 after acquiring an additional 319,441 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,411,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 853,370 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $20,728,000 after purchasing an additional 171,046 shares during the period. Yunqi Capital Ltd grew its position in STAAR Surgical by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. Yunqi Capital Ltd now owns 767,413 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $18,640,000 after buying an additional 252,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Defender Capital LLC. increased its stake in STAAR Surgical by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 701,567 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $17,041,000 after buying an additional 23,950 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.70% of the company's stock.

STAAR Surgical Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of STAA traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.24. The company had a trading volume of 637,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 820,128. The stock has a market cap of $952.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.93 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.40. STAAR Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $13.50 and a fifty-two week high of $49.86.

STAAR Surgical announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at STAAR Surgical

In other STAAR Surgical news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 108,720 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.96 per share, for a total transaction of $1,952,611.20. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,182,995 shares of the company's stock, valued at $218,806,590.20. This trade represents a 0.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 1,446,433 shares of company stock worth $23,957,807. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on STAA shares. BTIG Research cut shares of STAAR Surgical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com downgraded STAAR Surgical from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered STAAR Surgical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, STAAR Surgical currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.63.

STAAR Surgical 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.