Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO - Free Report) in a report released on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Leerink Partners reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $31.35 price objective (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Patterson Companies in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to 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 NASDAQ:PDCO traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.05. The stock had a trading volume of 188,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,301,025. Patterson Companies has a 1 year low of $19.45 and a 1 year high of $31.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.90.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Patterson Companies had a net margin of 2.37% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Patterson Companies'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 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Patterson Companies

In related news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PDCO. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Patterson Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 103.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 2,084.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Patterson Companies by 20.5% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 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.