Short Interest in Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) Declines By 8.7%

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,210,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the October 31st total of 6,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 5.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on HSIC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Henry Schein from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Henry Schein from $92.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Henry Schein in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Henry Schein from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.38.

Henry Schein Stock Performance

HSIC traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $76.82. 466,195 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,393,016. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $71.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Henry Schein has a 52-week low of $63.67 and a 52-week high of $82.63.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Henry Schein had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 2.51%. Henry Schein’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Henry Schein will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Lorelei Mcglynn sold 21,035 shares of Henry Schein stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total value of $1,457,725.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 71,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,978,026.90. This trade represents a 22.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael S. Ettinger sold 12,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $918,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 87,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,577,950. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Henry Schein

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Henry Schein by 5.4% in the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,397,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,900,000 after buying an additional 71,560 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in Henry Schein by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,278,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,072,000 after acquiring an additional 414,748 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in shares of Henry Schein in the second quarter worth about $46,683,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 1,622.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 458,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,449,000 after acquiring an additional 432,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Henry Schein during the third quarter valued at $515,000. 96.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Henry Schein Company Profile

Henry Schein, Inc provides health care products and services to dental practitioners, laboratories, physician practices, and ambulatory surgery centers, government, institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care clinics worldwide. It operates through two segments, Health Care Distribution, and Technology and Value-Added Services.