Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Stock

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $27.00 to $31.35 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 1.55% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PDCO. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Patterson Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Patterson Companies in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Patterson Companies from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Patterson Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PDCO opened at $30.87 on Tuesday. 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.07. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.00.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last released its 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). The company 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 for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Patterson Companies news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 222,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,746.88. This trade represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PDCO. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Patterson Companies by 201.2% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 2,084.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.43% of the company’s stock.

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.