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

River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,938,207 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 343,772 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.55% of Bausch + Lomb worth $33,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Bausch + Lomb by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 192,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,281,000 after purchasing an additional 47,914 shares during the period. Renaissance Capital LLC lifted its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Capital LLC now owns 22,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 4,801 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP lifted its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 11.7% in the third quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 5,994,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,612,000 after buying an additional 626,431 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 39.1% in the third quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,351,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,913,000 after buying an additional 380,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Bausch + Lomb by 11.5% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,220,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,580,000 after buying an additional 333,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BLCO shares. Barclays raised their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Evercore cut their target price on Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $16.50 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.68.

Bausch + Lomb Trading Up 1.7 %

BLCO traded up $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.31. The company had a trading volume of 342,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 481,116. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.81. The company has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.36. Bausch + Lomb Co. has a 12-month low of $13.62 and a 12-month high of $21.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.70% and a negative net margin of 6.27%. Bausch + Lomb’s revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Bausch + Lomb 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.