Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Bausch + Lomb Corporation $BLCO

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bausch + Lomb Corporation (NYSE:BLCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 35,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth $2,249,000. Goldentree Asset Management LP raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 3.0% during the third quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 2,660,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,002,000 after acquiring an additional 77,323 shares during the period. Compass Rose Asset Management LP raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 22.0% during the third quarter. Compass Rose Asset Management LP now owns 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,070,000 after acquiring an additional 180,000 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its position in Bausch + Lomb by 28.7% during the third quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 3,245,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,909,000 after acquiring an additional 724,194 shares during the period. Finally, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Bausch + Lomb during the third quarter worth $14,776,000. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bausch + Lomb Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BLCO opened at $15.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Bausch + Lomb Corporation has a 12-month low of $11.22 and a 12-month high of $18.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.59.

Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.02. Bausch + Lomb had a negative net margin of 4.21% and a positive return on equity of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.07) earnings per share. Bausch + Lomb’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bausch + Lomb Corporation will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLCO. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bausch + Lomb from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Bausch + Lomb in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sam Eldessouky bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.13 per share, with a total value of $68,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 403,130 shares in the company, valued at $6,905,616.90. This represents a 1.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP A Robert D. Bailey bought 14,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.15 per share, with a total value of $250,390.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president owned 231,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,976,913.50. This trade represents a 6.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 33,300 shares of company stock valued at $570,868 over the last 90 days. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.