Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Lowers Stock Holdings in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,090 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Bausch + Lomb were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,938,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,066,000 after purchasing an additional 343,772 shares in the last quarter. Freshford Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Freshford Capital Management LLC now owns 1,754,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,925,000 after acquiring an additional 403,062 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 302,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,152,000 after acquiring an additional 38,256 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 192,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,281,000 after acquiring an additional 47,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 114,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 11,321 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLCO. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore decreased their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bausch + Lomb currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.95.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BLCO traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.81. The company had a trading volume of 416,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,363. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.30. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.47. Bausch + Lomb Co. has a 1 year low of $13.16 and a 1 year high of $20.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.60% and a negative net margin of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.