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

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. 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 target price for the company. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore raised their target price 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, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.91.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

BLCO opened at $20.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.45. Bausch + Lomb has a twelve month low of $13.16 and a twelve month high of $21.69.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 4.4% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,020,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,974,000 after purchasing an additional 85,987 shares in the last quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 28.2% during the second quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,545,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,447,000 after buying an additional 339,643 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP raised its position 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 buying an additional 411,404 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP raised its position 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 buying an additional 146,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 31.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 647,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,397,000 after buying an additional 153,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

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.