Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.81.

Premier Stock Performance

Premier stock opened at $22.67 on Tuesday. Premier has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.01. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.66.

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

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total value of $403,310.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,042,718.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total transaction of $403,310.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 578,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,042,718.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $358,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 540,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,804,860. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,441 shares of company stock worth $2,738,548 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Premier during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,686,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Premier by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 59,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Premier by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 215,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,742,000 after buying an additional 20,419 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Premier during the 1st quarter worth about $124,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of Premier by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 104,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

About Premier

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.