Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Purchases 241,556 Shares of Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC - Free Report) by 97.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 490,313 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 241,556 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.39% of Henry Schein worth $33,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Henry Schein by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,335,000 after acquiring an additional 3,256 shares in the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Henry Schein in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,557,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 22,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its stake in shares of Henry Schein by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 137,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,537,000 after buying an additional 35,775 shares during the period. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 823,828 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,009,000 after acquiring an additional 67,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSIC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Henry Schein from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Henry Schein from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Henry Schein in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Henry Schein from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Henry Schein in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Henry Schein Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HSIC traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $65.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,224,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.84. Henry Schein, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.56 and a fifty-two week high of $82.49. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $68.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.76.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.04). Henry Schein had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 2.51%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Henry Schein, Inc. 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.