Wells Fargo & Company Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO)

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by Wells Fargo & Company in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $15.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $24.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 5.82% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup cut Bausch + Lomb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.18.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

Shares of BLCO opened at $14.18 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of -15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.49. Bausch + Lomb has a fifty-two week low of $13.16 and a fifty-two week high of $21.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 6.62% and a positive return on equity of 3.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Bausch + Lomb

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLCO. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 24,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the fourth quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 20,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 4,065 shares during the period. 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.