Bridgewater Associates LP Trims Stake in Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its position in Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) by 77.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,887 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Henry Schein were worth $925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in shares of Henry Schein during the 4th quarter valued at $289,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Henry Schein by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 6,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in shares of Henry Schein during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Henry Schein in the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Henry Schein by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 288,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,964,000 after buying an additional 2,048 shares in the last quarter. 96.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HSIC shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Henry Schein from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Henry Schein from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Henry Schein in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Henry Schein from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Henry Schein from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.10.

Insider Activity at Henry Schein

In related news, Director Philip A. Laskawy sold 2,604 shares of Henry Schein stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.04, for a total transaction of $184,988.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,762,147.20. This trade represents a 9.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Bradford C. Connett sold 4,036 shares of Henry Schein stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.15, for a total transaction of $287,161.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,460,251.20. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Henry Schein Stock Performance

HSIC opened at $64.73 on Friday. Henry Schein, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.56 and a 12-month high of $82.49. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.41 and its 200 day moving average is $71.96.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.04). Henry Schein had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Henry Schein, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

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.