KBC Group NV Sells 77,236 Shares of Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC)

KBC Group NV cut its position in Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,236 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Henry Schein were worth $10,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Henry Schein during the 3rd quarter worth about $63,226,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Henry Schein in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,319,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its position in Henry Schein by 30.0% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,600,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,540,000 after buying an additional 600,000 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Henry Schein in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,740,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 558,689 shares during the last quarter. 96.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $918,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 87,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,577,950. This trade represents a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Henry Schein Trading Up 5.0 %

HSIC opened at $79.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Henry Schein, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.67 and a twelve month high of $82.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.27.

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. Analysts predict that Henry Schein, Inc. will post 4.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Henry Schein in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Henry Schein in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Henry Schein from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Henry Schein from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Henry Schein from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.30.

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.