Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Position Trimmed by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 24.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,404 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,616 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.09% of Premier worth $1,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Premier by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 4,104 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Premier by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the fourth quarter worth $51,271,000. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 290,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,487,000 after acquiring an additional 26,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Premier during the fourth quarter valued at $363,000. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In other news, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total value of $204,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 263,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,096.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $204,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 263,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,096.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $346,970.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,784,038.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 166,312 shares of company stock valued at $3,358,500 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on PINC shares. Benchmark lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.94.

Premier Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of PINC stock opened at $19.89 on Monday. 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 $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.02.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced 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. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The firm had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors 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 yield of 4.22%. Premier’s payout ratio is 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.