Cerity Partners LLC Buys 12,879 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 17.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,669 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,879 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Premier were worth $1,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Premier by 137.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Premier by 265.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Premier in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Premier by 37.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Premier in the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,000. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Premier Stock Down 0.3 %

PINC opened at $22.83 on Tuesday. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.56. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.97.

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

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Premier’s payout ratio is currently 61.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Premier news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,141,449.10. This represents a 4.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total value of $403,310.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares in the company, valued at $12,042,718.69. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 126,067 shares of company stock valued at $2,599,100. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PINC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Premier currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.36.

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.