HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 3,871 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in STAAR Surgical were worth $315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 30,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in STAAR Surgical by 79.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,092 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,136 shares during the period. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych raised its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 39,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 36,374 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 6,354 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STAA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BTIG Research cut shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. William Blair downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $38.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.29.

STAAR Surgical Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of STAA opened at $17.60 on Wednesday. STAAR Surgical has a 12-month low of $13.50 and a 12-month high of $52.68. The stock has a market cap of $868.12 million, a P/E ratio of -42.93 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.97.

Insider Transactions at STAAR Surgical

In related news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 8,221 shares of STAAR Surgical stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.50 per share, for a total transaction of $176,751.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,878,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,877,150.50. The trade was a 0.08 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 1,074,103 shares of company stock valued at $17,900,948 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

STAAR Surgical 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.