STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Shares Down 8.7% on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) traded down 8.7% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as low as $41.37 and last traded at $42.57. 262,022 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 719,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.65.

The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $77.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.34 million. STAAR Surgical had a net margin of 6.62% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.05 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on STAA. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Monday, April 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on STAAR Surgical from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, STAAR Surgical has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.13.

Insider Transactions at STAAR Surgical

In related news, Director Aimee S. Weisner bought 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.11 per share, for a total transaction of $66,692.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $414,027.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STAA. Broadwood Capital Inc. raised its position in STAAR Surgical by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 10,537,835 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $328,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,408 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in STAAR Surgical by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,468,710 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $170,678,000 after purchasing an additional 43,083 shares during the last quarter. Defender Capital LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 730,387 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,959,000 after purchasing an additional 7,855 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 4th quarter worth $13,615,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in STAAR Surgical by 54.9% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 365,693 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $14,693,000 after acquiring an additional 129,543 shares during the last quarter. 96.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

STAAR Surgical Trading Down 12.1 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.13 and its 200-day moving average is $35.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.40 and a beta of 0.80.

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.