Cooper Companies Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:COO)

The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:COO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 2,270 call options on the company. This is an increase of 121% compared to the typical volume of 1,026 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair cut Cooper Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cooper Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $61.00 target price on shares of Cooper Companies and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cooper Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Cooper Companies in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cooper Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.60.

Cooper Companies Stock Performance

NASDAQ COO traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $60.58. 238,058 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,712,205. Cooper Companies has a 1 year low of $51.01 and a 1 year high of $89.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.83.

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The medical device company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. Cooper Companies had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Cooper Companies has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.050-1.090 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.510-4.550 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cooper Companies will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Cooper Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical device company to reacquire up to 22.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cooper Companies

In related news, Director Paul A. Keel bought 4,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.18 per share, with a total value of $249,999.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,701 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,999.18. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lawrence Kurzius purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.93 per share, with a total value of $549,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 31,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,708,268.07. This represents a 47.40% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 34,701 shares of company stock valued at $1,880,039 over the last ninety days. 2.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cooper Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Cooper Companies during the second quarter valued at $1,077,762,000. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Cooper Companies in the second quarter worth $356,304,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cooper Companies in the second quarter valued at $305,074,000. JANA Partners Management LP raised its stake in shares of Cooper Companies by 0.5% in the second quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 3,582,480 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $256,900,000 after buying an additional 17,322 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Cooper Companies by 3.1% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,468,951 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $248,758,000 after buying an additional 103,044 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.39% of the company’s stock.

About Cooper Companies

CooperCompanies is a global medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets products for vision care and women’s health. The company operates through two primary business segments: CooperVision and CooperSurgical.

CooperVision provides contact lenses and related technologies, including products designed for myopia management, astigmatism, presbyopia and other vision-correction needs. Its portfolio includes daily disposable, reusable and specialty contact lenses sold through eye-care professionals and distributors.

CooperSurgical develops products and services for fertility and women’s health.