STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Zacks Research lowered STAAR Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. William Blair set a $33.00 target price on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.45.

STAAR Surgical Stock Up 2.0%

STAA opened at $22.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 318.90 and a beta of 1.17. STAAR Surgical has a twelve month low of $15.59 and a twelve month high of $35.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.55.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. STAAR Surgical had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $93.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.34) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 111.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STAAR Surgical announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 24th that permits the company to buy back $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of STAAR Surgical

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the third quarter valued at $546,000. Two Seas Capital LP raised its position in STAAR Surgical by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 1,304,957 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,505,000 after purchasing an additional 240,568 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in STAAR Surgical during the 2nd quarter worth about $952,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $618,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $235,000. 96.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR Surgical is a medical device company focused on ophthalmic surgery and vision correction. The company develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses and related products designed to reduce or eliminate dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

Its principal product line is the EVO Visian Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL), a lens implanted inside the eye to correct myopia, with or without astigmatism. Unlike procedures that remove corneal tissue, ICL surgery preserves the eye’s natural lens and is designed to be removable.