Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) Short Interest Update

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,840,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the November 30th total of 6,450,000 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Henry Schein in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Henry Schein in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Henry Schein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Henry Schein presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.89.

Henry Schein Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of HSIC stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $69.20. 553,473 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,396,747. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $72.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.27. Henry Schein has a 12-month low of $63.67 and a 12-month high of $82.63. The stock has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.87.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Henry Schein had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 2.51%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Henry Schein will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Henry Schein

In other news, COO Michael S. Ettinger sold 12,240 shares of Henry Schein stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $918,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 87,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,577,950. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Henry Schein

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HSIC. ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of Henry Schein in the third quarter worth approximately $63,226,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Henry Schein in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,319,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new stake in Henry Schein during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,683,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Henry Schein in the 3rd quarter worth $43,740,000. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Henry Schein by 30.0% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,600,000 shares of the company's stock worth $189,540,000 after purchasing an additional 600,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.62% of the company's stock.

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.