Jane Street Group LLC Grows Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 70.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 143,803 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,295 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Premier were worth $2,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 5,007,851 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Premier by 14.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,105,000 after acquiring an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Premier by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,973,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,472,000 after acquiring an additional 32,193 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Premier by 60.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Premier by 5.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,741,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,836,000 after purchasing an additional 97,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total transaction of $403,331.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at $12,060,060.48. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $25,207.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $529,142.74. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PINC shares. StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.36.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of Premier stock opened at $21.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.23. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.95 and a 1 year high of $23.56.

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

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Premier’s payout ratio is 61.76%.

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.