Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Stake Lifted by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 495,985 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,909 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Premier were worth $10,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,973,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,472,000 after acquiring an additional 32,193 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Premier by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,741,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,836,000 after purchasing an additional 97,458 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Premier by 109.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 468,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,933,000 after purchasing an additional 245,239 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 26.3% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 327,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,551,000 after buying an additional 68,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Premier by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 256,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,465,000 after buying an additional 44,480 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Premier has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

Premier Price Performance

NASDAQ PINC opened at $18.76 on Monday. Premier, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.95 and a 12 month high of $23.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -187.58 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.94.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is currently -839.92%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In related news, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $25,207.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,142.74. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.88, for a total transaction of $437,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,444,149.16. The trade was a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.