Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) Trading Up 6.2% – Time to Buy?

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) shares traded up 6.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $81.85 and last traded at $80.80. Approximately 720,124 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 1,013,515 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSIC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Henry Schein from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Henry Schein in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised Henry Schein from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barrington Research increased their price target on Henry Schein from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Henry Schein has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.10.

Henry Schein Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.34.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Henry Schein had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Henry Schein, Inc. will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Henry Schein news, COO Michael S. Ettinger sold 12,240 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,577,950. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Henry Schein

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HSIC. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,280,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,177,000 after buying an additional 237,888 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 30.0% in the 3rd 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. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Henry Schein by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,278,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,072,000 after purchasing an additional 414,748 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,397,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,900,000 after acquiring an additional 71,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Henry Schein by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,175,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,662,000 after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares in the last quarter. 96.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.