Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cooper Companies in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Cooper Companies from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Cooper Companies from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.00.

Cooper Companies Trading Down 0.2 %

COO stock opened at $99.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Cooper Companies has a 1-year low of $82.21 and a 1-year high of $112.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.93. The company has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.50, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.99.

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The medical device company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $997.30 million. Cooper Companies had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 9.08%. Cooper Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Cooper Companies will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Daniel G. Mcbride sold 114,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.48, for a total value of $12,129,356.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 44,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian G. Andrews sold 24,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.90, for a total transaction of $2,625,049.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,614 shares in the company, valued at $700,422.60. This trade represents a 78.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 256,373 shares of company stock valued at $27,637,427. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cooper Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cooper Companies by 303.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,099,975 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $2,343,723,000 after buying an additional 17,367,502 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Cooper Companies by 301.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,654,023 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $573,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,246,519 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Cooper Companies by 279.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,437,064 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $348,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,186 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cooper Companies by 305.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,000,910 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $203,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Cooper Companies in the 1st quarter worth $139,246,000. 24.39% of the stock is currently owned by 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.