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

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) had its price target boosted by Wedbush from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.04% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on STAA. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STAAR Surgical currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.93.

STAAR Surgical Stock Performance

Shares of STAAR Surgical stock opened at $24.99 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty 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 price-to-earnings ratio of -15.37 and a beta of 1.04. STAAR Surgical has a 52 week low of $15.12 and a 52 week high of $30.81.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.51). STAAR Surgical had a negative net margin of 33.60% and a negative return on equity of 10.03%. The business had revenue of $57.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.54 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. purchased 316,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.61 per share, for a total transaction of $5,881,076.37. Following the purchase, the director owned 16,123,842 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 697,698 shares of company stock worth $12,872,294. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 4,673 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 4,468 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in STAAR Surgical in the 3rd quarter valued at $199,000. 96.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

STAAR Surgical Company 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. 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.