Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Premier worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Premier by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Premier by 50.0% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Premier by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Premier by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 77,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Premier by 141.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PINC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Premier from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.19.

Insider Activity at Premier

In other Premier news, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 288,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,762,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 1,319 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total value of $26,327.24. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 102,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,045,241.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 288,110 shares in the company, valued at $5,762,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,429 shares of company stock valued at $2,245,068 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PINC opened at $19.79 on Wednesday. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $24.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.15.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 6.01%. The firm had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Premier’s payout ratio is currently 131.25%.

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.