Insider Selling: Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Sells 18,736 Shares of Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,736 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total transaction of $375,656.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,216,110.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Premier Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PINC traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $19.94. The company had a trading volume of 275,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,441,471. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.96. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.40. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.95 and a 1 year high of $23.01.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PINC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Premier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.94.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Premier by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,213,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,805,000 after purchasing an additional 199,702 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Premier by 384.3% during the second 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Premier by 14.9% during the second 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Premier by 139.3% during the fourth 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. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Premier by 60.4% during the second 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

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.