KBC Group NV Raises Position in The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:COO)

KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:COO) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 258,460 shares of the medical device company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,435 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.13% of Cooper Companies worth $28,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Cooper Companies Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COO opened at $99.63 on Friday. The Cooper Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.21 and a 52 week high of $112.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Albert G. White III sold 114,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,267,624.69. The trade was a 41.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Brian G. Andrews sold 24,788 shares of Cooper Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.90, for a total transaction of $2,625,049.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,614 shares in the company, valued at $700,422.60. This represents a 78.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 256,373 shares of company stock worth $27,637,427 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on COO shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cooper Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cooper Companies from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Cooper Companies in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Cooper Companies from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Cooper Companies from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten 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 $117.00.

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.