Meeder Asset Management Inc. Purchases 3,710 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 148.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,212 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Premier were worth $124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Premier by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Premier by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its position in Premier by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 77,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Premier by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its position in Premier by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 11,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In other Premier news, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 1,319 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total transaction of $26,327.24. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 102,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,241.32. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total transaction of $403,331.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at $12,060,060.48. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 142,856 shares of company stock worth $2,941,879. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Premier Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:PINC opened at $22.23 on Thursday. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.52 and a 200 day moving average of $19.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Premier had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The company had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. Premier’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. Premier’s payout ratio is 61.77%.

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.