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

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,840,000 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the November 30th total of 6,450,000 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Henry Schein Stock Performance

Shares of HSIC stock opened at $68.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.87. Henry Schein has a 52-week low of $63.67 and a 52-week high of $82.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Henry Schein had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 2.51%. Henry Schein’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Henry Schein will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HSIC shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Henry Schein in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Henry Schein from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Henry Schein in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Henry Schein currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Henry Schein news, COO Michael S. Ettinger sold 12,240 shares of Henry Schein 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 87,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,577,950. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Henry Schein

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Henry Schein by 93.4% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Henry Schein by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Henry Schein by 282.1% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Henry Schein in the 3rd quarter worth about $109,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Henry Schein by 16.8% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 96.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.