Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

PDCO has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Patterson Companies from $36.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Patterson Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.17.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

Shares of PDCO opened at $30.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Patterson Companies has a 12-month low of $25.15 and a 12-month high of $34.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.31.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Patterson Companies had a net margin of 3.28% and a return on equity of 22.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Patterson Companies will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Patterson Companies news, insider Timothy E. Rogan sold 9,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $275,485.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 40,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,201,364.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PDCO. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 195.7% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 902 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in Patterson Companies by 499.4% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Patterson Companies by 108.0% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. 79.24% of the stock is currently 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.