StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO - Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs cut Patterson Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of PDCO stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.01. 525,367 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,446,872. Patterson Companies has a 52-week low of $19.45 and a 52-week high of $31.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $29.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.81. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. Patterson Companies had a net margin of 2.37% and a return on equity of 19.77%. Patterson Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Patterson Companies will post 2.25 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 directly owns 222,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,746.88. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,183,940 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,697,000 after purchasing an additional 258,042 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp raised its stake in Patterson Companies by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,028,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,614,000 after buying an additional 289,295 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Patterson Companies by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,988,217 shares of the company's stock worth $43,423,000 after buying an additional 68,947 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,799,942 shares of the company's stock worth $55,546,000 after acquiring an additional 245,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,515,255 shares of the company's stock worth $33,093,000 after acquiring an additional 83,589 shares in 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.