Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Robert W. Baird

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird downgraded Cooper Companies from “strong buy” to “hold.” Overall analyst sentiment is now “Hold,” with five Buy, eleven Hold and two Sell ratings and an average price target of $71.47.
• Cooper’s fiscal third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.15 exceeded the $1.12 consensus, but revenue of about $1.07 billion missed estimates amid flat CooperVision sales and contact-lens destocking.
• The company lowered its fiscal 2026 EPS outlook to $4.51–$4.55 and authorized a $3 billion share buyback, covering up to 22.7% of outstanding shares.

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on COO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cooper Companies and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Cooper Companies from $95.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Cooper Companies from $86.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered Cooper Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $86.00 to $59.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Cooper Companies in a report on Friday, September 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.47.

Cooper Companies Stock Performance

Shares of COO opened at $54.17 on Thursday. Cooper Companies has a 1 year low of $51.01 and a 1 year high of $89.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.81.

Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The medical device company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Cooper Companies had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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, analysts predict that Cooper Companies will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cooper Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical device company to repurchase up to 22.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Cooper Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COO. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cooper Companies by 290.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34,286 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 25,504 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Cooper Companies by 281.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 82,903 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $5,945,000 after buying an additional 61,165 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in Cooper Companies by 9,314.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 526,149 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $37,730,000 after acquiring an additional 520,560 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in Cooper Companies by 379.0% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 42,483 shares of the medical device company's stock worth $3,046,000 after acquiring an additional 33,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in Cooper Companies by 8,637.7% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 249,897 shares of the medical device company's stock valued at $17,920,000 after acquiring an additional 247,037 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.39% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Cooper Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Cooper Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cooper reported fiscal Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.15, above the $1.12 consensus estimate. The company also generated $273 million in free cash flow and repurchased $339.1 million of stock. CooperCompanies Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: The board increased its share-repurchase authorization from $2 billion to $3 billion, potentially allowing repurchases of up to 22.7% of outstanding shares and signaling that management views the stock as undervalued. CooperCompanies Completes Strategic Review
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain divided: Needham maintained a “buy” rating despite lowering its target to $73, while JPMorgan, UBS and Bank of America cut targets and maintained neutral ratings. The revisions imply upside from recent levels but reflect reduced estimates and greater uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue totaled approximately $1.066 billion, below the $1.10 billion consensus, with CooperVision revenue flat year over year. Destocking and channel-inventory reductions in the U.S. pressured contact-lens demand and overshadowed the EPS beat. COO Q3 Earnings Top Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Cooper cut fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $4.51–$4.55 from expectations near $4.63, and forecast fourth-quarter EPS of $1.05–$1.09 versus consensus of $1.20. Investors also reacted negatively to the decision not to pursue a sale of CooperSurgical after the strategic review. Cooper Cos. Stock Drops After Soft Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: A securities-fraud investigation announced by the Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz adds headline and legal risk, although the announcement does not establish that Cooper violated securities laws. Securities Fraud Investigation Announcement

Cooper Companies Company Profile

Cooper Companies, Inc is a global medical device company headquartered in San Ramon, California. Founded in 1958, the company develops, manufactures and markets products through two primary business segments: CooperVision and CooperSurgical.

CooperVision specializes in contact lenses, including daily disposable, toric, multifocal, multifocal toric, specialty and myopia-management lenses. Its products are designed to address a range of vision-correction needs, including astigmatism, presbyopia and irregular corneas.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.