Shares of The Cooper Companies (NASDAQ: COO) jumped 6.29% to $76.50 in premarket trading on Monday, October 20, 2025, following news that activist investor Jana Partners has taken a stake in the medical devices maker. Jana, known for its successful corporate transformation strategies at companies like Frontier Communications and Lamb Weston, is pushing for strategic changes that could unlock shareholder value. The activist investment comes as Cooper’s stock has struggled, with shares down over 20% year-to-date, according to recent market data. Jana Partners seeks a more efficient structure for the company by potentially selling or spinning off one of its businesses to improve returns and focus efforts. The firm is urging the company to review its corporate structure and consider options like selling CooperVision or CooperSurgical. This comes as Jana Partners sees limited value creation from Cooper’s current capital allocation, especially after recent acquisitions in the women’s health division failed to deliver expected results. Cooper reported $3.9 billion in total sales for 2024, with CooperVision accounting for two-thirds of its revenue, highlighting the significant impact this area has on the company’s performance. Activist speculation is adding momentum to Jana Partners’ campaign, as Bausch + Lomb CEO Brent Saunders has publicly voiced openness to merging their contact lens businesses with Cooper. A potential merger would create a stronger competitor in the contact lens market, potentially increasing scale and pricing power. This prospect has fueled investor interest, resulting in analysts rating Cooper Companies a ‘Moderate Buy’ with an average target price of $79.45, implying around 10% upside from the previous closing price. However, the stock has significantly underperformed the S&P 500, dropping 21.71% year-to-date compared to the index’s 13.30% gain. Investors will be closely watching for any further developments between Cooper and Bausch + Lomb as well as management’s response to Jana Partners’ calls for strategic changes. This article does not offer financial advice, and all stock prices were quoted at the time of writing.