STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $29.49, but opened at $31.32. STAAR Surgical shares last traded at $28.75, with a volume of 154,682 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STAA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded STAAR Surgical from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STAAR Surgical has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.57.

STAAR Surgical Stock Down 1.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 85.26 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.76.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $99.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that STAAR Surgical will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur C. Butcher bought 1,315 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $37.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,956.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,208 shares in the company, valued at $159,861.92. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 164,625 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $6,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 90,434 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $3,360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Defender Capital LLC. lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 677,617 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $25,173,000 after purchasing an additional 28,430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.