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

Equities researchers at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) in a research note issued on Sunday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Patterson Companies from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Patterson Companies in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

Shares of PDCO opened at $30.85 on Friday. Patterson Companies has a 1 year low of $19.45 and a 1 year high of $31.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last posted 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). The business 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%. Patterson Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 222,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,746.88. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Patterson Companies by 31.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 33,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 7,969 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,739,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,994,000 after buying an additional 166,899 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its stake in Patterson Companies by 177.7% during the second quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 73,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,773,000 after acquiring an additional 47,032 shares during the period. Goodman Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Patterson Companies by 19.1% in the third quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 543,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,865,000 after acquiring an additional 86,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mork Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Patterson Companies by 142.9% in the third quarter. Mork Capital Management LLC now owns 84,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. 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.