Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) Short Interest Down 20.2% in December

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,010,000 shares, a decrease of 20.2% from the December 15th total of 2,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total value of $45,282.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 222,736 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,746.88. This trade represents a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Patterson Companies during the second quarter worth about $41,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 2,084.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 20.5% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 32.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. 85.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PDCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.35 price objective (up from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Patterson Companies from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Patterson Companies in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 note on Thursday, December 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Patterson Companies stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.90. The stock had a trading volume of 730,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,720,817. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.09. Patterson Companies has a 52 week low of $19.45 and a 52 week high of $31.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

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.