Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.94.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Insider Activity at Premier

In other news, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 288,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,762,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $90,038.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,449.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 288,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,762,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 166,312 shares of company stock valued at $3,358,500. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $117,828,000 after buying an additional 5,007,851 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Premier during the fourth quarter worth $51,271,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Premier by 139.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,121,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,017 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Premier by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,105,000 after purchasing an additional 773,207 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Premier by 60.4% in the 2nd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Performance

Premier stock opened at $19.59 on Wednesday. Premier has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.00.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 8.88%. Premier’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Premier’s dividend 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.