Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 9,237 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 42,577 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,343 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,721 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,700 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 36,931 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on STAAR Surgical from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at STAAR Surgical

In other news, Director Arthur C. Butcher acquired 1,315 shares of STAAR Surgical stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $37.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,956.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,861.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

STAAR Surgical Stock Up 8.0 %

Shares of STAA opened at $32.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.45 and a beta of 0.58. STAAR Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $26.66 and a fifty-two week high of $52.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.47.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $99.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.22 million. STAAR Surgical had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 4.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. Research analysts forecast that STAAR Surgical will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

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.