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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) in a research note published on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PDCO. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.35 price target (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

PDCO stock opened at $31.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.85. Patterson Companies has a 12 month low of $19.45 and a 12 month high of $31.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PDCO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Patterson Companies in the 4th quarter worth $18,316,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,711,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,662,000 after buying an additional 527,054 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Patterson Companies during the third quarter worth about $11,183,000. TIG Advisors LLC bought a new position in Patterson Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $14,633,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Patterson Companies by 2,837.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 423,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,084,000 after acquiring an additional 409,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.43% of the company’s stock.

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.