Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) Short Interest Update

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,520,000 shares, a decrease of 24.6% from the November 30th total of 3,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PDCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Patterson Companies from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of 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 reaffirmed 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PDCO traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,206,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,022,427. Patterson Companies has a fifty-two week low of $19.45 and a fifty-two week high of $31.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.00.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.37%. Patterson Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Patterson Companies will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total value of $45,282.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 222,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,746.88. The trade was a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PDCO. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 32.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Patterson Companies by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC raised its holdings in Patterson Companies by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 12.8% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 9,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares in the last quarter. 85.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.