STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by Mizuho

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) was downgraded by analysts at Mizuho from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $17.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, down from their previous price target of $45.00. Mizuho’s price objective points to a potential downside of 22.30% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stephens raised shares of STAAR Surgical to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STAAR Surgical currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.50.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance

STAA opened at $21.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.33. STAAR Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $21.13 and a fifty-two week high of $52.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. purchased 8,221 shares of STAAR Surgical stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.50 per share, for a total transaction of $176,751.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 10,878,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,877,150.50. This represents a 0.08 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 105,876 shares of company stock worth $2,487,168 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,855,570 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $142,232,000 after purchasing an additional 319,441 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,989 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in STAAR Surgical during the fourth quarter worth $180,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,256 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 5,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in STAAR Surgical during the fourth quarter worth $278,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

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.