Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.35 target price (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Patterson Companies stock opened at $30.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.41. Patterson Companies has a 52 week low of $19.45 and a 52 week 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.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.37%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 222,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,746.88. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.