Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Stock

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 26.77% from the company’s current price.

BLCO has been the subject of several other reports. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore lifted their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $15.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bausch + Lomb presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.91.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

BLCO stock opened at $20.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.45. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. Bausch + Lomb has a 1-year low of $13.16 and a 1-year high of $21.69.

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

Insider Activity at Bausch + Lomb

In other news, CEO Brent L. Saunders bought 32,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $505,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 595,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,320,346.54. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Europe London LLP lifted its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 28.9% in 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 during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the second quarter valued at approximately $580,000. Clearline Capital LP lifted its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 136.8% in 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 during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 390,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,663,000 after buying an additional 78,000 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,911,000. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.