Short Interest in The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:COO) Expands By 28.2%

The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:COO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,950,000 shares, a growth of 28.2% from the February 28th total of 3,080,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,760,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cooper Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Cooper Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $691,000. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cooper Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,004,000. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Cooper Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $282,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Cooper Companies by 194.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,892 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 32,260 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cooper Companies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 238,305 shares of the medical device company’s stock valued at $26,295,000 after acquiring an additional 14,687 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Cooper Companies from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cooper Companies in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Cooper Companies from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cooper Companies to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cooper Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.25.

Cooper Companies Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of COO traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.72. 695,493 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,347,894. The company has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of 41.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $88.87 and a 200 day moving average of $96.83. Cooper Companies has a 1-year low of $77.05 and a 1-year high of $112.38.

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The medical device company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92. Cooper Companies had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The business had revenue of $964.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $981.25 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cooper Companies will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

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.