Brokerages Set Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) Price Target at $28.40

Shares of Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.40.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PDCO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Patterson Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Patterson Companies from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 7,216 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $180,327.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 230,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,749,499.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 7,216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total transaction of $180,327.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,749,499.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin Michael Barry sold 1,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total transaction of $28,843.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,605 shares in the company, valued at $986,870.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,149 shares of company stock worth $415,851. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PDCO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Patterson Companies by 7.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,018,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,003,000 after buying an additional 730,819 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Patterson Companies by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,915,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,436,000 after purchasing an additional 23,344 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Patterson Companies by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,370,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,533,000 after purchasing an additional 82,522 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Patterson Companies by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,925,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,453,000 after purchasing an additional 133,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in Patterson Companies in the second quarter valued at $37,935,000. 85.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Patterson Companies Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of PDCO stock opened at $22.26 on Friday. Patterson Companies has a twelve month low of $19.96 and a twelve month high of $32.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.87 and a 200 day moving average of $24.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.08). Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 2.58%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Patterson Companies will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Patterson Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Patterson Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.00%.

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.