Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 23,900 Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 23,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in Patterson Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 54.8% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 4.0% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 16,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 10,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. 85.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PDCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Patterson Companies in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Patterson Companies in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler cut Patterson Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Patterson Companies from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.56.

Patterson Companies Price Performance

Patterson Companies stock opened at $25.77 on Monday. Patterson Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.00 and a 12 month high of $34.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.88 and its 200-day moving average is $28.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.06.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Patterson Companies had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Patterson Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Patterson Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Patterson Companies’s payout ratio is 51.23%.

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.