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

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on COO. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cooper Companies in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Cooper Companies from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Cooper Companies from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Cooper Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Cooper Companies from $116.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cooper Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.00.

Cooper Companies Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of COO stock opened at $94.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Cooper Companies has a 12-month low of $84.76 and a 12-month high of $112.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $103.49 and its 200 day moving average is $98.87.

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The medical device company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Cooper Companies had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Cooper Companies will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Albert G. White III sold 114,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.53, for a total transaction of $12,710,065.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 165,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,267,624.69. This represents a 41.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cooper Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cooper Companies by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,595 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Cooper Companies by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Cooper Companies by 0.8% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,600 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Cooper Companies by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,767 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cooper Companies by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,709 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 24.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cooper Companies

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.