Creative Planning Raises Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 29.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,980 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,645 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Premier were worth $952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 79.5% during the 1st quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 264,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 117,242 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Premier during the 1st quarter worth $1,686,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 1,496.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 94,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 88,800 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 8,726.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,275,000 after purchasing an additional 370,192 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Premier during the 1st quarter worth $418,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PINC opened at $19.11 on Friday. Premier, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.95 and a 12-month high of $23.01. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.85.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 8.88%. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the firm’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 $52,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580,073 shares in the company, valued at $11,601,460. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $52,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 580,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,601,460. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 1,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $25,292.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 558,143 shares in the company, valued at $11,168,441.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 186,312 shares of company stock worth $3,779,250 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PINC. Benchmark downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.81.

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.