Equity Investment Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO)

Equity Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,028,964 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 289,295 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp owned 2.30% of Patterson Companies worth $62,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 103.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Patterson Companies by 2,084.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $65,000. 85.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

Shares of PDCO stock opened at $31.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $19.45 and a one year high of $31.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.94 and its 200 day moving average is $25.36.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PDCO shares. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.35 price target (up from $29.00) on shares of Patterson Companies in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Patterson Companies from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partnrs cut Patterson Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Patterson Companies in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 directly owns 222,736 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Patterson Companies 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.