Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Leerink Partners

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) was upgraded by stock analysts at Leerink Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BLCO. Evercore set a $17.00 price target on Bausch + Lomb in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.15.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BLCO opened at $17.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.12, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.56. Bausch + Lomb has a 12-month low of $13.77 and a 12-month high of $18.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.01). Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 4.14% and a negative net margin of 3.21%.The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Frederick Munsch sold 52,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.78, for a total value of $887,662.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $769,044.18. This represents a 53.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eschenbach Andrew C. Von sold 6,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $100,458.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 63,733 shares in the company, valued at $1,056,693.14. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 71,459 shares of company stock worth $1,194,370 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bausch + Lomb

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Glenview Capital Management LLC increased its position in Bausch + Lomb by 210.8% during the second quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,216,000 after buying an additional 1,053,855 shares during the period. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,776,000. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 175.3% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 861,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,976,000 after acquiring an additional 548,230 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 428.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 299,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,345,000 after acquiring an additional 242,993 shares during the period. Finally, Whitebox Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 15.8% during the first quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,101,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,519,000 after acquiring an additional 150,641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Bausch + Lomb Company Profile

Bausch + Lomb Corporation operates as an eye health company in the United States, Puerto Rico, China, France, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Poland, South Korea, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Vision Care, Pharmaceuticals, and Surgical. The Vision Care segment provides contact lens that covers the spectrum of wearing modalities, including daily disposable and frequently replaced contact lenses; and contact lens care products comprising over-the-counter eye drops, eye vitamins, and mineral supplements that address various conditions, such as eye allergies, conjunctivitis, dry eye, and redness relief.