Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC)

Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 5,611 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 50% compared to the average daily volume of 3,735 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bausch Health Companies news, EVP Seana Carson sold 13,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.21, for a total value of $83,027.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 435,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,579.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bausch Health Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BHC. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Bausch Health Companies by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 28,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 10,625 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Bausch Health Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Bausch Health Companies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,866,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,992,000 after purchasing an additional 15,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bausch Health Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $31,121,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bausch Health Companies by 362.2% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 296,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 232,160 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.65% of the company’s stock.

Bausch Health Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BHC opened at $7.18 on Wednesday. Bausch Health Companies has a 1 year low of $3.96 and a 1 year high of $11.46. The company’s 50-day moving average is $6.24 and its 200 day moving average is $7.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.79 and a beta of 0.75.

Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. Bausch Health Companies had a negative net margin of 5.12% and a negative return on equity of 742.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Bausch Health Companies will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BHC shares. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Bausch Health Companies in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Bausch Health Companies from $10.00 to $8.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bausch Health Companies from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Bausch Health Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $3.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Bausch Health Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bausch Health Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.33.

About Bausch Health Companies

Bausch Health Companies Inc operates as a diversified specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company in the United States and internationally. It develops, manufactures, and markets a range of products primarily in gastroenterology, hepatology, neurology, dermatology, international pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter (OTC) products, aesthetic medical devices, and eye health.