Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) in a report released on Sunday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho started coverage on Patterson Companies in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ PDCO opened at $30.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.41. Patterson Companies has a twelve month low of $19.45 and a twelve month high of $31.79.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Patterson Companies will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Patterson Companies

In other news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total value of $45,282.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 222,736 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,746.88. This trade represents a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Patterson Companies by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,915,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,436,000 after purchasing an additional 23,344 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 13.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,183,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,697,000 after buying an additional 258,042 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 3.6% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,988,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,423,000 after buying an additional 68,947 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 10.6% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,739,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,994,000 after acquiring an additional 166,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Patterson Companies by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,554,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,952,000 after acquiring an additional 81,524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.43% of the company’s stock.

About Patterson Companies

Patterson Companies, Inc engages in the distribution of dental and animal health products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company operates through three segments: Dental, Animal Health, and Corporate segments. The Dental segment offers consumable products, including infection control, restorative materials, and instruments; basic and advanced technology and dental equipment; practice optimization solutions, such as practice management software, e-commerce, revenue cycle management, patient engagement solutions, and clinical and patient education systems.