STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

STAA has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group set a $28.00 price target on STAAR Surgical in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Wedbush cut their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. William Blair set a $33.00 target price on STAAR Surgical in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded STAAR Surgical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STAAR Surgical has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.45.

STAAR Surgical Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:STAA opened at $21.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 312.62 and a beta of 1.17. STAAR Surgical has a 12 month low of $15.59 and a 12 month high of $35.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.64 and its 200 day moving average is $25.53.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $93.53 million during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 111.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.34) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that STAAR Surgical will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STAAR Surgical declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 24th that authorizes the company to buy back $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of STAAR Surgical

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,669 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new position in STAAR Surgical in the first quarter worth approximately $77,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in STAAR Surgical in the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in STAAR Surgical in the second quarter worth approximately $235,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 2,867.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,008 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 10,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

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.