Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 80,454 Shares of Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 370,202 shares of the company's stock after selling 80,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.42% of Patterson Companies worth $8,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PDCO. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Patterson Companies during the first quarter worth $535,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Patterson Companies by 1,802.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 67,615 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,870,000 after acquiring an additional 64,061 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Patterson Companies by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 91,921 shares of the company's stock worth $2,540,000 after buying an additional 23,941 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its stake in Patterson Companies by 177.7% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 73,504 shares of the company's stock worth $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 47,032 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Patterson Companies by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,018,184 shares of the company's stock valued at $277,003,000 after acquiring an additional 730,819 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.43% of the company's stock.

Patterson Companies Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PDCO traded down $0.35 on Wednesday, reaching $20.06. The company had a trading volume of 659,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 943,609. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.02. Patterson Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.45 and a 52-week high of $32.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $21.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.15.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.08). Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.87% and a net margin of 2.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 16th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Patterson Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Patterson Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Patterson Companies from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Patterson Companies from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Patterson Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.30.

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.