Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, a decrease of 22.1% from the January 31st total of 2,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PDCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Patterson Companies in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.35 price target (up from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Patterson Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:PDCO traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $31.12. 516,217 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,000,286. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.99. Patterson Companies has a fifty-two week low of $19.45 and a fifty-two week 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 fifty day moving average of $30.97 and a 200-day moving average of $25.59.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). Patterson Companies had a net margin of 2.37% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Patterson Companies will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Patterson Companies

In other Patterson Companies 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 transaction of $45,282.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,746.88. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Patterson Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Patterson Companies by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 2,084.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 20.5% during 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.

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.