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

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) 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. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

Shares of PDCO remained flat at $30.89 during midday trading on Wednesday. 1,621,063 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,802,552. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.37. Patterson Companies has a twelve month low of $19.45 and a twelve month high of $31.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.89.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Patterson Companies will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Patterson Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Patterson Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Patterson Companies in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.57.

Insider Transactions at Patterson Companies

In other news, CEO Donald Zurbay sold 1,962 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.08, for a total value of $45,282.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,736 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,746.88. This represents a 0.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Profit Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC now owns 101,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,138,000 after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 103.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in Patterson Companies by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Patterson Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Patterson Companies by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,670 shares of the company's stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 9,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.43% of the company's stock.

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.