Geode Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Geode Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,739,473 shares of the company’s stock after selling 120,322 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.74% of Premier worth $34,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Premier by 27.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 428,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,562,000 after acquiring an additional 92,766 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Premier by 6.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,241,000 after purchasing an additional 98,544 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Premier by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,973,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,472,000 after purchasing an additional 32,193 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Premier in the third quarter worth $678,000. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.36.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PINC opened at $21.51 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.30. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.42. Premier, Inc. has a one year low of $17.95 and a one year high of $23.56.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. The company had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Premier’s payout ratio is 61.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 1,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $25,292.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 558,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,168,441.43. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $25,207.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,846 shares in the company, valued at $529,142.74. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 114,825 shares of company stock worth $2,418,042. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.