Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,800,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the October 15th total of 6,440,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Henry Schein Price Performance

HSIC traded up $5.13 during trading on Monday, hitting $73.89. 3,564,726 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,367,991. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.61. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.87. Henry Schein has a twelve month low of $63.67 and a twelve month high of $82.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Henry Schein had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Henry Schein will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HSIC shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Henry Schein from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Henry Schein in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Henry Schein from $92.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Henry Schein from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Lorelei Mcglynn sold 21,035 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.30, for a total transaction of $1,457,725.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,978,026.90. The trade was a 22.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Henry Schein

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HSIC. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in Henry Schein by 93.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Henry Schein during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Henry Schein in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Henry Schein by 104.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Henry Schein by 58.9% during 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 96.62% of the company’s stock.

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.