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

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.35 price target (up from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partnrs cut Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Eleven investment 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Stock Down 0.1 %

PDCO opened at $30.95 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.49. 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 has a twelve month low of $19.45 and a twelve month high of $31.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Patterson Companies will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Patterson Companies news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,736 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Patterson Companies by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 11,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Patterson Companies by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in Patterson Companies by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Patterson Companies by 32.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.