Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 3,156 Shares of Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,137 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Henry Schein were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HSIC. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Henry Schein during the third quarter worth $63,226,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Henry Schein during the third quarter worth $58,319,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Henry Schein in the third quarter valued at $43,740,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its position in Henry Schein by 30.0% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,600,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,540,000 after purchasing an additional 600,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Henry Schein by 365.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 711,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,095,000 after purchasing an additional 558,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Henry Schein

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

Henry Schein Stock Performance

NASDAQ HSIC opened at $73.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.42 and a 200-day moving average of $70.77. 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 market cap of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.89. Henry Schein, Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.67 and a 52-week high of $82.63.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Henry Schein had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 12.90%. Henry Schein’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Henry Schein, Inc. will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSIC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Henry Schein from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $69.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Henry Schein in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Henry Schein from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Henry Schein in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Henry Schein presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

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.