Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Sells $25,292.64 in Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 1,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $25,292.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 558,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,168,441.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Premier Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Premier stock opened at $19.39 on Thursday. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The firm had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 131.25%.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PINC. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Premier during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Premier by 265.2% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Premier by 141.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Premier during the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.