STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) by 42.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,871 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in STAAR Surgical were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STAA. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical during the third quarter worth $50,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in STAAR Surgical by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 30,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in STAAR Surgical by 79.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,092 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 3,136 shares during the period. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych boosted its stake in STAAR Surgical by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 39,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 36,374 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 6,354 shares during the period. 96.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STAAR Surgical Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of STAAR Surgical stock opened at $17.60 on Wednesday. STAAR Surgical has a twelve month low of $13.50 and a twelve month high of $52.68. The stock has a market cap of $868.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.93 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. bought 8,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.50 per share, for a total transaction of $176,751.50. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 10,878,007 shares in the company, valued at $233,877,150.50. This represents a 0.08 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 1,074,103 shares of company stock worth $17,900,948 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on STAA. StockNews.com cut shares of STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho cut shares of STAAR Surgical from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.29.

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.