StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO)

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) in a research note issued on Sunday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PDCO. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.35 price target (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Price Performance

PDCO stock opened at $31.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.93 and its 200-day moving average is $25.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Patterson Companies has a 1 year low of $19.45 and a 1 year high of $31.79.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). Patterson Companies had a net margin of 2.37% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Patterson Companies’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Patterson Companies will post 2.25 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 shares were sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total transaction of $45,282.96. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,799,000. BCK Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $710,000. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in Patterson Companies by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 18,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 3,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CSS LLC IL purchased a new position in Patterson Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Hedge funds and other 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.