** Shares of medical device supplier Patterson Companies PDCO.O rise 7.3% to $23.47 premarket
** PDCO says it is evaluating strategic alternatives including a sale or merger to increase shareholder value
** Brokerage Leerink Partners says the review could "shine a light" on the gap between PDCO's current stock price and its historical valuations
** PDCO lowers forecast for annual adj. EPS to between $2.25 and $2.35, from prior range of $2.33 to $2.43
** Co's Q2 adj. profit of 47 cents/shr misses analysts' est. of 49 cents/shr, according to LSEG data, hurt by weaker dental equipment sales and cybersecurity attack on vendor Change Healthcare
** Co reports Q2 sales of $1.67 bln vs. est. of $1.65 bln - LSEG
** As of last close, stock has fallen 23.1% YTD
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru)
((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;))
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