Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Trading Down 6.7% – Time to Sell?

Bausch + Lomb Co. (NYSE:BLCO) traded down 6.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $14.15 and last traded at $13.99. 178,698 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 587,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on BLCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Bausch + Lomb from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (down previously from $24.00) on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.18.

Bausch + Lomb Stock Down 5.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.62, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.09.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Bausch + Lomb had a positive return on equity of 3.35% and a negative net margin of 6.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bausch + Lomb Co. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bausch + Lomb

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Bausch + Lomb in the fourth quarter valued at $72,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the 4th quarter worth $181,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the 4th quarter worth about $181,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb in the 4th quarter valued at about $188,000. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Bausch + Lomb

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.