346,019 Shares of Bausch + Lomb Corporation $BLCO Bought by Beach Point Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Beach Point Capital Management bought 346,019 shares of Bausch + Lomb, worth approximately $5.9 million, giving it a 0.10% stake and making BLCO its eighth-largest holding.
• Institutional ownership stands at 11.07%, with several other hedge funds and financial institutions recently increasing their positions.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the stock carries a consensus “Hold” rating and a $19.46 price target, while Bausch + Lomb’s latest quarter included revenue growth of 9.1% but slightly missed EPS expectations.

Beach Point Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE:BLCO - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 346,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,882,000. Bausch + Lomb accounts for about 2.6% of Beach Point Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Beach Point Capital Management LP owned 0.10% of Bausch + Lomb at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 22,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,657 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 31.7% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 24,379 shares of the company's stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 5,861 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 16.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 65,765 shares of the company's stock worth $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 9,066 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Monday, July 6th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Bausch + Lomb to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.46.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Performance

BLCO opened at $16.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of -35.23, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.56. Bausch + Lomb Corporation has a twelve month low of $14.44 and a twelve month high of $18.92. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $17.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 3.21% and a positive return on equity of 4.14%. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb Corporation will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Bausch + Lomb

In other news, CAO Frederick Munsch sold 52,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.78, for a total transaction of $887,662.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,831 shares in the company, valued at $769,044.18. The trade was a 53.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eschenbach Andrew C. Von sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total value of $206,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 69,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,151,568. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,459 shares of company stock worth $1,194,370. Insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Bausch + Lomb 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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