Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.36.

PINC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays raised their target price 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, Benchmark downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total transaction of $400,553.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,951,317.20. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 131,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,584,091.34. The trade was a 13.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 104,825 shares of company stock worth $2,184,542. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 384.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,828,000 after purchasing an additional 5,007,851 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Premier by 14.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,105,000 after buying an additional 773,207 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Premier by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,973,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,472,000 after purchasing an additional 32,193 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Premier by 60.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 5.9% during the third 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 period. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Premier Stock Performance

Premier stock opened at $21.79 on Monday. Premier has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.16.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.85 million. Premier had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 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 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.77%.

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.