Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Shares Purchased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 38.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,589 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,542 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Premier were worth $118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Premier by 109.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 468,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,933,000 after acquiring an additional 245,239 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 5.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,741,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,836,000 after purchasing an additional 97,458 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Premier by 27.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 428,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,562,000 after purchasing an additional 92,766 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 310.3% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 115,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 87,601 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Premier during the third quarter worth $1,414,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

Insider Activity at Premier

In other news, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of Premier 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,142.74. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at $12,060,060.48. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PINC opened at $18.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.43. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.95 and a 1 year high of $23.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.92.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Premier’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.77%.

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.