Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Holdings in Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its position in Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,775 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,330 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Patterson Companies worth $2,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 138,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 12,948 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Patterson Companies by 13.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,670,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,500,000 after acquiring an additional 61,940 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. Finally, Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $259,000. Institutional investors own 85.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Patterson Companies Stock Performance

PDCO opened at $26.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.48 and a 200 day moving average of $28.30. Patterson Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.00 and a fifty-two week high of $34.53.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Patterson Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.23%.

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.