Short Interest in Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) Grows By 25.9%

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,530,000 shares, a growth of 25.9% from the January 15th total of 2,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Patterson Companies Price Performance

Shares of Patterson Companies stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.03. 748,496 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,382,452. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $19.45 and a fifty-two week high of $31.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.99.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) 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 net margin of 2.37% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Patterson Companies will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Patterson Companies 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 transaction of $45,282.96. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PDCO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Patterson Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $18,316,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,711,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,662,000 after acquiring an additional 527,054 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Patterson Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,183,000. TIG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Patterson Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $14,633,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 2,837.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 423,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,084,000 after acquiring an additional 409,543 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PDCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $31.35 price target (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Patterson Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.57.

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.