HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 3,164 Shares of Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,661 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bausch + Lomb were worth $476,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 14,052.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 3,232 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the second quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the third quarter valued at $302,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bausch + Lomb by 80.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 13,302 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Bausch + Lomb during the second quarter worth $580,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Bausch + Lomb Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BLCO opened at $18.00 on Friday. Bausch + Lomb Co. has a 1-year low of $13.16 and a 1-year high of $21.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.60. The company has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of -17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.17% and a negative net margin of 7.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded Bausch + Lomb from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut Bausch + Lomb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.58.

About Bausch + Lomb

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.