STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $23.94, but opened at $20.00. STAAR Surgical shares last traded at $20.9750, with a volume of 1,958,390 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STAA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $30.75 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $30.75 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, STAAR Surgical presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.42.

STAAR Surgical Stock Down 12.0%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.80 and a beta of 1.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. bought 797,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.86 per share, for a total transaction of $22,217,959.96. Following the purchase, the insider owned 15,019,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $418,443,019.26. The trade was a 5.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,500,000 shares of company stock worth $41,061,615. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of STAAR Surgical

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STAA. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in STAAR Surgical in the 3rd quarter worth $48,729,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical in the third quarter valued at about $32,361,000. Broadwood Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 8.5% in the second quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 13,519,491 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $226,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,227 shares during the period. Alpine Associates Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical during the third quarter worth about $24,535,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC bought a new stake in STAAR Surgical during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $17,689,000. 96.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.