Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Stock Price Down 4.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO)’s share price was down 4.5% on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $28.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Patterson Companies traded as low as $24.16 and last traded at $24.23. Approximately 88,183 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 1,000,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.38.

PDCO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com cut Patterson Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 1st. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Patterson Companies in a research report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Patterson Companies in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler cut Patterson Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Patterson Companies from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.78.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PDCO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,162,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 730,819 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,594,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,852,000 after buying an additional 523,226 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Patterson Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,741,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,287,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,081,000 after purchasing an additional 332,593 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.43% of the company’s stock.

Patterson Companies Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.94. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.07.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 18th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). Patterson Companies had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Patterson Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. Patterson Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.00%.

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.