D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 29,750 Shares of Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. cut its stake in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,884,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,750 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.53% of Bausch + Lomb worth $34,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 4,065 shares during the period. Fore Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Fore Capital LLC now owns 57,614 shares of the company's stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 305,804 shares of the company's stock worth $5,523,000 after purchasing an additional 5,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company's stock.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

NYSE:BLCO traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.37. 1,231,852 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 657,513. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $13.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.45. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $10.45 and a fifty-two week high of $21.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.35% and a negative net margin of 6.62%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BLCO. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Bausch + Lomb from $18.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $15.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.50.

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.