Leigh Anderson Sells 20,000 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total value of $392,400.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Premier Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of PINC stock traded down $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $19.34. 120,434 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,432,170. Premier, Inc. has a one year low of $17.95 and a one year high of $23.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PINC. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on 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 lowered their price objective on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Benchmark lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.81.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 384.3% during the second 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Premier by 139.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,121,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,017 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Premier by 14.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,105,000 after purchasing an additional 773,207 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 valued at $38,303,000 after buying an additional 772,392 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 8,726.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,275,000 after buying an additional 370,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.