Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.94.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PINC shares. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Premier Stock Down 1.5 %

PINC opened at $19.59 on Wednesday. Premier has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $23.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.00. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its 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. 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Premier will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.25%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 580,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,601,460. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $90,038.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,449.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $52,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,601,460. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 166,312 shares of company stock worth $3,358,500. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PINC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 2,352 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Premier in the 4th quarter worth $51,271,000. UBS Group AG raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 26,666 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the fourth quarter valued at $363,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Premier by 141.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.