Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 139.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,121,702 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,235,017 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.77% of Premier worth $47,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caxton Associates LP raised its stake in Premier by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 97,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 6,169 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Premier by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 532,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,916,000 after buying an additional 126,640 shares during the last quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Premier by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH now owns 31,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 12,078 shares during the last quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Premier during the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Premier by 228.6% in the 4th quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 55,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 38,880 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Premier Stock Up 0.4 %

PINC opened at $18.18 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.00. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $28.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.07. Premier had a net margin of 6.01% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The business had revenue of $342.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.92 million. Analysts forecast 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 was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. Premier’s payout ratio is currently 131.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (down from $27.00) on shares of Premier in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Premier from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Premier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, SVB Leerink started coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Premier currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In related news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 6,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.85, for a total transaction of $131,585.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,929.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 6,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.85, for a total transaction of $131,585.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,929.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 13,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.55, for a total value of $247,438.45. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 92,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,706,618.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,075 shares of company stock worth $1,328,050 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Premier Company 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.