Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Increases Stock Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 165.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 83,350 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,955 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Premier worth $1,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Premier by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,213,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,805,000 after purchasing an additional 199,702 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $117,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,007,851 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 773,207 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 139.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,121,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,017 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised 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 valued at $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PINC. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on 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 lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Premier has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.81.

Insider Activity at Premier

In other Premier news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 131,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,584,091.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 1,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $25,292.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 558,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,168,441.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 131,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,584,091.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 186,312 shares of company stock valued at $3,779,250. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Premier Price Performance

NASDAQ:PINC opened at $19.37 on Wednesday. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.41.

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. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. 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.