Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $19.00 to $22.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. 429,130 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 559,506 shares.The stock last traded at $19.71 and had previously closed at $19.96.

A number of other analysts have also commented on BLCO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $15.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bausch + Lomb

In related news, CEO Brent L. Saunders acquired 32,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.66 per share, for a total transaction of $505,035.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 595,169 shares in the company, valued at $9,320,346.54. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Bausch + Lomb during the fourth quarter worth about $1,706,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 48,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 20,803 shares in the last quarter. Freshford Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Freshford Capital Management LLC now owns 1,754,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,925,000 after buying an additional 403,062 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 worth $47,000 after buying an additional 3,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 302,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,152,000 after buying an additional 38,256 shares in the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.71.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 10.15% and a positive return on equity of 3.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.