Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) Stock Price

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $102.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the medical device company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on COO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cooper Companies from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Cooper Companies in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Cooper Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Cooper Companies from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cooper Companies in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.00.

Cooper Companies Stock Performance

COO opened at $98.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.79. Cooper Companies has a 52-week low of $82.69 and a 52-week high of $112.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a PE ratio of 54.83, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.97.

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 9.08% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cooper Companies will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Albert G. White III sold 114,992 shares of Cooper Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.53, for a total value of $12,710,065.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 165,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,267,624.69. This trade represents a 41.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Agostino Ricupati sold 1,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cooper Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COO. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Cooper Companies by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,590,689 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $947,897,000 after buying an additional 104,521 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 231,155 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cooper Companies by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,796,556 shares of the medical device company’s stock worth $527,476,000 after purchasing an additional 48,559 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $435,856,000 after acquiring an additional 737,726 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in shares of Cooper Companies by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,359,798 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $205,511,000 after buying an additional 558,886 shares during the last quarter. 24.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.