Vestcor Inc Buys Shares of 86,558 STAAR Surgical Company $STAA

Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 86,558 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,390 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 544,843 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $9,606,000 after purchasing an additional 136,390 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in STAAR Surgical by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,347 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 12,841 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in STAAR Surgical by 691.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,607 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 3,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in STAAR Surgical by 0.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,192,821 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $20,018,000 after buying an additional 3,335 shares during the period. 96.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

STAAR Surgical Stock Up 2.5%

NASDAQ:STAA opened at $17.66 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.81. STAAR Surgical Company has a 52-week low of $14.69 and a 52-week high of $30.81. The firm has a market cap of $874.40 million, a P/E ratio of -10.83 and a beta of 1.05.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $57.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.54 million. STAAR Surgical had a negative return on equity of 10.03% and a negative net margin of 33.60%.STAAR Surgical’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that STAAR Surgical Company will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of STAAR Surgical from $30.75 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $30.75 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $18.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 27,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.05 per share, with a total value of $606,044.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,453,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,752,519.45. This trade represents a 0.18% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders bought 434,138 shares of company stock worth $9,424,176. Company insiders own 0.59% 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.