Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PDCO. Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $31.35 price target (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PDCO opened at $30.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.07 and its 200-day moving average is $24.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. Patterson Companies has a 52 week low of $19.45 and a 52 week high of $31.79.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.37%. Patterson Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Patterson Companies will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Patterson Companies

In other news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 222,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,746.88. The trade was a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 31.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 33,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 7,969 shares in 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 worth $37,994,000 after acquiring an additional 166,899 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 19.1% during the third quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 543,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,865,000 after acquiring an additional 86,972 shares in the last quarter. Mork Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 142.9% during the third quarter. Mork Capital Management LLC now owns 84,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Patterson Companies by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 165,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 44,906 shares in the last quarter. 85.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Patterson Companies Company Profile

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.