Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Stock Rating Cut to "Neutral" at HC Wainwright

Key Points

• HC Wainwright downgraded Bausch + Lomb to “Neutral” from “Buy”, maintaining a $22 price target that implies roughly 10% upside from the stock’s $19.99 price.
• Analyst opinion remains mixed but centers on a consensus “Hold” rating; the average price target is $20.83, with targets ranging from $16 to $24.
• Bausch + Lomb recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.34 in EPS versus $0.21 expected and $1.38 billion in revenue, up 7.3% year over year. However, insiders sold $1.19 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by HC Wainwright from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Briefing.com reports. They presently have a $22.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright's target price suggests a potential upside of 10.06% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BLCO. Barclays raised shares of Bausch + Lomb to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bausch + Lomb currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.83.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

NYSE:BLCO opened at $19.99 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average is $17.35 and its 200 day moving average is $16.69. The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -64.48, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.56. Bausch + Lomb has a 52-week low of $14.44 and a 52-week high of $21.36.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 5.01% and a negative net margin of 2.05%. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. Research analysts predict that Bausch + Lomb will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Eschenbach Andrew C. Von sold 6,059 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $100,458.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 63,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,056,693.14. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Frederick Munsch sold 52,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.78, for a total transaction of $887,662.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 45,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,044.18. This trade represents a 53.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,459 shares of company stock worth $1,194,370. Insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Whitebox Advisors LLC raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 1,101,854 shares of the company's stock worth $17,519,000 after purchasing an additional 150,641 shares during the period. Beach Point Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,882,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 100.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 139,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,214,000 after acquiring an additional 69,633 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,479,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 13.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 85,779 shares of the company's stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 9,971 shares during the period. 11.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bausch + Lomb Company Profile

Bausch + Lomb Corporation NYSE: BLCO is a global eye-health company that develops, manufactures and markets products for vision care, ophthalmic pharmaceuticals and eye surgery. The company serves consumers, eye-care professionals, hospitals and surgical centers through a portfolio spanning contact lenses, contact-lens care products, prescription medicines, over-the-counter eye-care products and surgical equipment.

Its vision-care portfolio includes the Biotrue and INFUSE contact-lens brands, as well as solutions and other products used to clean and maintain contact lenses.

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