STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Trading 5.4% Higher – Still a Buy?

STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA)’s share price rose 5.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $22.75 and last traded at $23.3050. 11,044 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 99% from the average session volume of 1,162,946 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on STAAR Surgical in a report on Monday, August 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.40.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 332.35 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.58.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STAA. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,729,000. Broadwood Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 15,019,491 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $346,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its position in STAAR Surgical by 105.3% during the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 2,472,390 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,019 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 112.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,076,743 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $47,952,000 after buying an additional 1,100,484 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in STAAR Surgical by 2,943.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 968,402 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,783,000 after purchasing an additional 936,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

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.