Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $3.35 Million Position in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) by 54.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 138,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 165,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in STAAR Surgical were worth $3,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,411,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in STAAR Surgical by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,855,570 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $142,232,000 after acquiring an additional 319,441 shares in the last quarter. Yunqi Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Yunqi Capital Ltd now owns 767,413 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $18,640,000 after acquiring an additional 252,113 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 411.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,750 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,978,000 after purchasing an additional 172,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 377,249 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $9,163,000 after purchasing an additional 101,373 shares during the last quarter. 96.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

STAAR Surgical Stock Up 1.3 %

STAA stock opened at $17.40 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.14 and a 200-day moving average of $23.05. The company has a market cap of $858.26 million, a P/E ratio of -42.44 and a beta of 0.75. STAAR Surgical has a twelve month low of $13.50 and a twelve month high of $49.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STAA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on STAAR Surgical in a report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut STAAR Surgical from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STAAR Surgical news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 3,620 shares of STAAR Surgical stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $63,277.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 12,424,944 shares in the company, valued at $217,188,021.12. The trade was a 0.03 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders bought 1,742,581 shares of company stock valued at $28,407,543. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.