Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) by 25.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,506,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 513,428 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bausch + Lomb were worth $27,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLCO. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Bausch + Lomb by 68.3% during 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 in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth $302,000. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Bausch + Lomb from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Down 0.9 %

Bausch + Lomb stock opened at $15.96 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.49. 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 one year low of $13.16 and a one year high of $21.69.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 6.62% and a positive return on equity of 3.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.