State Street Corp Boosts Stock Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 0.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,973,582 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,193 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in Premier were worth $79,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PINC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Premier by 137.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Premier by 576.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Premier during the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Premier by 37.0% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Premier in the second quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total value of $400,553.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,951,317.20. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 13.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 94,825 shares of company stock valued at $1,980,442 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PINC shares. Benchmark cut Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.36.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PINC opened at $21.17 on Wednesday. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.95 and a 1 year high of $23.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.41 and its 200 day moving average is $20.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 0.42.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $232.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.76%.

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.