Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Reduces Holdings in Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership cut its position in shares of Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC - Free Report) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,529,955 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,063 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 5.24% of Henry Schein worth $451,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Henry Schein by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 109,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,543,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. raised its position in Henry Schein by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 350,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,256,000 after purchasing an additional 18,882 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Henry Schein in the 4th quarter valued at $417,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 43.9% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,651 shares of the company's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Henry Schein by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,854 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 3,650 shares during the last quarter. 96.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Philip A. Laskawy sold 2,604 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,762,147.20. This represents a 9.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Bradford C. Connett sold 4,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $4,460,251.20. The trade was 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 Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HSIC traded down $0.54 on Monday, hitting $68.08. 236,575 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,568,072. The firm's 50-day moving average is $74.62 and its 200 day moving average is $72.68. The company has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.90. Henry Schein, Inc. has a 1-year low of $63.67 and a 1-year high of $82.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Henry Schein had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 2.51%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Henry Schein, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HSIC. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Henry Schein in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut their target price on Henry Schein from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America upgraded Henry Schein from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Henry Schein in a report on Friday, February 14th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Henry Schein from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.10.

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.