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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) in a research report issued on Monday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho started coverage on Patterson Companies in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Patterson Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

Patterson Companies stock opened at $31.13 on Monday. Patterson Companies has a 12-month low of $19.45 and a 12-month high of $31.79. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Insider Activity

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. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Patterson Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Patterson Companies by 2,084.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 43.7% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 9,529 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 32,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,623 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Patterson Companies by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 72,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 7,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Patterson Companies by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,988,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,423,000 after purchasing an additional 68,947 shares during the period. 85.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.