Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 819,911 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 1,397,007 shares.The stock last traded at $77.16 and had previously closed at $76.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HSIC. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Henry Schein in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Henry Schein from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Henry Schein from $92.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Henry Schein currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.38.

Henry Schein Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.78. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Henry Schein had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Henry Schein, Inc. will post 4.78 earnings per share 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 that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total transaction of $1,457,725.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,978,026.90. The trade was a 22.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael S. Ettinger sold 12,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $918,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 87,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,577,950. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Henry Schein

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 93.4% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Henry Schein in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Henry Schein during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 104.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 931 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Henry Schein by 58.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. 96.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.