Wedbush Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Stock

Key Points

• Wedbush raised its price target on STAAR Surgical to $26 from $21 while keeping a "neutral" rating, implying roughly a 4% upside, though the analyst consensus remains a "Hold" with an average target of $19.93.
• STAAR missed quarterly expectations with EPS of ($0.37) versus $0.14 estimated and revenue of $57.8M versus $75.5M estimated, despite revenue rising 18% year-over-year; the company trades around $24.99 with a market cap near $1.24B and negative earnings metrics.
• Broadwood Partners bought 316,017 shares at about $18.61 each (~$5.9M), increasing its stake and contributing to notable insider buying activity.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by analysts at Wedbush from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the medical instruments supplier's stock. Wedbush's price target indicates a potential upside of 4.04% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on STAA. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on STAAR Surgical from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded STAAR Surgical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on STAAR Surgical in a research note on Friday, January 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.93.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STAA opened at $24.99 on Thursday. STAAR Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $15.12 and a fifty-two week high of $30.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.37 and a beta of 1.04.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $57.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.54 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that STAAR Surgical will post -1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at STAAR Surgical

In other STAAR Surgical news, Director Broadwood Partners, L.P. bought 316,017 shares of STAAR Surgical stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.61 per share, with a total value of $5,881,076.37. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 16,123,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at $300,064,699.62. The trade was a 2.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 697,698 shares of company stock valued at $12,872,294. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STAA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 2,605.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,055 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 375.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,919 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 4,673 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 9,928.9% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in STAAR Surgical during the 3rd quarter worth $199,000. 96.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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