Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) saw unusually-strong 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PDCO. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Patterson Companies from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $27.00 to $31.35 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Patterson Companies in a report on Sunday, February 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Patterson Companies in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Patterson Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.57.

Patterson Companies Trading Down 0.0 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.90. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Patterson Companies

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,409,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,390,000 after purchasing an additional 47,897 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Patterson Companies by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,711,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,662,000 after buying an additional 527,054 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp raised its position in Patterson Companies by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,028,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,614,000 after buying an additional 289,295 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Patterson Companies by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,988,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,423,000 after acquiring an additional 68,947 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Patterson Companies by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,799,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,546,000 after acquiring an additional 245,376 shares during the period. 85.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.