Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Cooper Companies from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cooper Companies from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Cooper Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cooper Companies in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Cooper Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.00.

Cooper Companies Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COO opened at $100.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $105.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Cooper Companies has a 12-month low of $82.21 and a 12-month high of $112.38.

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The medical device company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. Cooper Companies had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $997.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cooper Companies will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Cooper Companies news, COO Daniel G. Mcbride sold 114,992 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.48, for a total value of $12,129,356.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 44,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,714,534.08. This represents a 72.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Agostino Ricupati sold 1,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.03, for a total value of $172,956.03. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,488.54. This represents a 24.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 256,373 shares of company stock valued at $27,637,427 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cooper Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Cooper Companies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,590,689 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $947,897,000 after acquiring an additional 104,521 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cooper Companies by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,820,590 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $682,738,000 after purchasing an additional 231,155 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Cooper Companies by 301.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,654,023 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $573,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,246,519 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cooper Companies by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,796,556 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $527,476,000 after buying an additional 48,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cooper Companies by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,950,119 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $435,856,000 after buying an additional 737,726 shares during the period. 24.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cooper Companies Company Profile

The Cooper Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets contact lens wearers. The company operates in two segments, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. The CooperVision segment provides spherical lense, including lenses that correct near and farsightedness; and toric and multifocal lenses comprising lenses correcting vision challenges, such as astigmatism, presbyopia, and myopia in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.