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

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

PDCO has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Patterson Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $31.35 price target (up from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

Shares of PDCO opened at $30.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.15. Patterson Companies has a 12-month low of $19.45 and a 12-month high of $31.79. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.37%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Patterson Companies will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 $5,140,746.88. The trade was a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the third quarter valued at $65,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Patterson Companies by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 9,015 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Patterson Companies by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 165,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 44,906 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Patterson Companies by 6.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA raised its position in Patterson Companies by 186.9% during the third quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 30,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 19,701 shares during the last quarter. 85.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.