Leigh Anderson Sells 20,000 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total value of $392,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 131,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,584,091.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of Premier stock opened at $19.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.93. Premier, Inc. has a one year low of $17.95 and a one year high of $23.01.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.88 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Premier’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PINC. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 384.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,007,851 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 139.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,121,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,017 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,105,000 after acquiring an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,303,000 after acquiring an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 8,726.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,275,000 after acquiring an additional 370,192 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Premier Company Profile

Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and workforce solutions.