Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE:BLCO) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $17.62, but opened at $18.54. Bausch + Lomb shares last traded at $19.0670, with a volume of 228,469 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on BLCO shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays raised shares of Bausch + Lomb to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research note on Friday, August 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Thursday, July 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bausch + Lomb news, CAO Frederick Munsch sold 52,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,831 shares in the company, valued at $769,044.18. This represents a 53.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Eschenbach Andrew C. Von sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total value of $206,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 69,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,151,568. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 71,459 shares of company stock worth $1,194,370 in the last 90 days. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bausch + Lomb

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLCO. Beach Point Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bausch + Lomb during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,882,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $670,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Bausch + Lomb during the second quarter valued at $1,479,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Bausch + Lomb by 31.7% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 24,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 5,861 shares during the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bausch + Lomb Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.75 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $17.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.64.

About Bausch + Lomb

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.