Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Earns “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BLCO. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $15.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bausch + Lomb presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.91.

Bausch + Lomb Trading Up 1.1 %

BLCO stock opened at $20.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Bausch + Lomb has a twelve month low of $13.16 and a twelve month high of $21.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.45.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 7.86% and a positive return on equity of 3.16%. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bausch + Lomb news, CEO Brent L. Saunders acquired 32,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.66 per share, with a total value of $505,035.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 595,169 shares in the company, valued at $9,320,346.54. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Europe London LLP increased its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 28.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 653,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,489,000 after acquiring an additional 146,583 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the second quarter valued at about $580,000. Clearline Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 136.8% during the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 712,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,339,000 after acquiring an additional 411,404 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 25.0% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 390,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,663,000 after acquiring an additional 78,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the second quarter valued at about $1,911,000. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.