Neal C. Bradsher’s BroadWood Capital disclosed yesterday the acquisition of 260,341 shares of STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA)’s Common Stock, for an average weighted price of approximately $9.19 per share. According to the Form 4 filed with the SEC, the fund now owns 7.14 million shares directly, while Neal C. Bradsher owns an extra 25,900 of them.
BroadWood Capital is a private investment firm founded by Mr. Bradsher in 2002, and presided by him ever since. The fund last disclosed, for the second quarter of the year, a concentrated equity portfolio, comprising only 6 equity positions in the healthcare and consumer staples sectors, worth more than half a billion dollars in the market. Previous to starting his fund, Neal Bradsher worked at Whitehall Asset Management and Campbell Advisors.
STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA) is a $344.25 million market cap designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer of implantable lenses for the eye, including lenses used in corrective and cataracts surgery. According to the Form 4 filing (the fund owns more than 10% of the company’s stock), BroadWood purchased, through three separate transactions that took place on October 31, November 3 and November 4, a total of 260,341 shares of Common Stock, having spent about $2.39 million.
With its current position, which comprises more than 7.14 million shares, the fund asserts its dominance as the largest institutional shareholder in the company, trailed from far behind by William Leland Edwards’ Palo Alto Investors and Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners. These funds declared, by the end of the second quarter, owning 2.59 million shares and 271,600 shares, respectively.
But, what drove BroadWood’s purchase in this case? Well, the acquisitions started on the day after STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA) reported its third quarter financial results. Some highlights include total sales of $18.2 million, up from from $17.1 million in 2013’s third quarter GAAP-Net Loss of $0.07 per Share, and the approval of Visian ICL with CentraFLOW® for marketing in China.
Some other relevant moves made by BroadWood recently include an increase in its stake in BioTime, Inc. (NYSEMKT:BTX) to nearly 17.9 million shares, or 22% of the company’s outstanding stock. The fund has been bullish on BioTime for a while now, with purchases dating back to early-January.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any stocks or funds mentioned
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