Short Interest in Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) Drops By 14.3%

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,970,000 shares, a decrease of 14.3% from the February 28th total of 5,800,000 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Activity at Henry Schein

In other Henry Schein news, Director Philip A. Laskawy sold 2,604 shares of Henry Schein stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.04, for a total transaction of $184,988.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,762,147.20. The trade was a 9.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bradford C. Connett sold 4,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.15, for a total transaction of $287,161.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,460,251.20. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Henry Schein

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 274.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Henry Schein in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Henry Schein by 3,347.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Henry Schein by 91.2% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSIC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Henry Schein from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Henry Schein from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Henry Schein in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Henry Schein in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Henry Schein in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Henry Schein currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.10.

Henry Schein Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HSIC opened at $67.63 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.28, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.84. Henry Schein has a one year low of $63.67 and a one year high of $82.49.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.04). Henry Schein had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Henry Schein’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Henry Schein will post 4.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Henry Schein

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.