Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Premier were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PINC. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in 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 increased its stake in Premier by 14.9% during 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 8,726.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,275,000 after buying an additional 370,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Premier by 37.7% during the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,027,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,706,000 after buying an additional 281,131 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ PINC opened at $20.28 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.67. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.01.

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

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PINC shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Benchmark downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Premier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $90,038.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,141,449.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total value of $403,310.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,042,718.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $90,038.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,449.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,441 shares of company stock worth $2,738,548 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Premier 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.