Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.57.

A number of analysts have recently commented on PDCO shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Patterson Companies in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $23.00 price target for the company.

Insider Transactions at Patterson Companies

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 shares were sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total value of $45,282.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 222,736 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PDCO. Dean Investment Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 53,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 12,642 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,245,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 723,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,320,000 after purchasing an additional 55,125 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 217,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,701,000 after purchasing an additional 98,150 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 137.3% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 42,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 24,872 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.43% of the company's stock.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Patterson Companies stock remained flat at $31.04 during trading hours on Monday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 634,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,359,042. Patterson Companies has a one year low of $19.45 and a one year high of $31.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.90. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.92. 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 (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.37%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.