Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,539 Shares of Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,227 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Patterson Companies were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Patterson Companies by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,692,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,812,000 after purchasing an additional 46,399 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 25.3% during the fourth 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,748,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,735,000 after buying an additional 78,134 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson Companies by 46.2% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 915,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,131,000 after buying an additional 289,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Patterson Companies by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 780,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,138,000 after acquiring an additional 5,187 shares during the period. 85.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Patterson Companies Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PDCO stock opened at $26.02 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.30. Patterson Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.00 and a 12-month high of $34.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Patterson Companies had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 2.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Patterson Companies, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Patterson Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PDCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Patterson Companies from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Patterson Companies from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Leerink Partnrs restated 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 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Patterson Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.56.

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.