Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys Shares of 223,285 Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 223,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,466,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.22% of Premier as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Premier in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,686,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Premier by 1,496.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 94,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 88,800 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Premier by 8,726.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,275,000 after acquiring an additional 370,192 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Premier in the 1st quarter worth $418,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Premier by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 215,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,742,000 after buying an additional 20,419 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $90,038.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,141,449.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $90,038.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 104,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,141,449.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $358,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 540,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,804,860. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,738,548 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PINC. Benchmark downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com raised Premier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Premier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.81.

Premier Stock Up 0.2 %

PINC stock opened at $20.16 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.68. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.41. Premier, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $23.01.

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

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.55%.

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.