Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 451 Shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 451 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.10% of STAAR Surgical worth $2,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in STAA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 313.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,308 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 38.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in STAAR Surgical during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in STAAR Surgical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

STAAR Surgical Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STAA opened at $30.31 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.49. STAAR Surgical has a 52 week low of $26.66 and a 52 week high of $52.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.77 and a beta of 0.58.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last released its quarterly 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). STAAR Surgical had a return on equity of 5.60% and a net margin of 4.99%. The company had revenue of $99.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that STAAR Surgical will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at STAAR Surgical

In related news, Director Arthur C. Butcher purchased 1,315 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $159,861.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.