STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Shares Down 5.2% – Should You Sell?

STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA) was down 5.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $29.70 and last traded at $29.7680. Approximately 448,708 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 1,361,874 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on STAA. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $18.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Wedbush upgraded STAAR Surgical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.81.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 5.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.39 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.98.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $93.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.72 million. STAAR Surgical had a positive return on equity of 3.31% and a negative net margin of 7.24%.The firm’s revenue was up 119.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.10) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that STAAR Surgical Company will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 316,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $300,064,699.62. This represents a 2.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 670,213 shares of company stock valued at $12,266,249. Corporate insiders own 39.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STAA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in STAAR Surgical in the 1st quarter valued at $77,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 375.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,919 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 4,673 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 9,928.9% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 2,867.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,008 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 10,637 shares in the last quarter. 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.