Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Here's What Happened

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,433,612 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 17% from the previous session's volume of 1,229,472 shares.The stock last traded at $31.12 and had previously closed at $31.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PDCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Patterson Companies in a research report on Monday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Patterson Companies in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs cut Patterson Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $31.35 target price (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a research note 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.57.

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Patterson Companies Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.96 and a 200-day moving average of $25.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Patterson Companies news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total transaction of $45,282.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 222,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,140,746.88. This trade represents a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Patterson Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Patterson Companies by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 33,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 7,969 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp boosted its position in Patterson Companies by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,739,669 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,994,000 after acquiring an additional 166,899 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 543,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,865,000 after purchasing an additional 86,972 shares during the last quarter. Mork Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mork Capital Management LLC now owns 84,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 165,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 44,906 shares during the last quarter. 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.