Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) Stock

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.10% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on HSIC. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Henry Schein in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Henry Schein from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Henry Schein from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Mizuho assumed 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.30.

Henry Schein Stock Performance

Shares of HSIC stock traded down $0.77 on Thursday, hitting $74.01. The company had a trading volume of 192,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 984,536. Henry Schein has a twelve month low of $63.67 and a twelve month high of $82.63. 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 firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.86.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.22 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 analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. Henry Schein’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Henry Schein will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Henry Schein

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Henry Schein by 93.4% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Henry Schein by 274.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. City State Bank purchased a new stake in Henry Schein during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.