Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Lowers Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 14.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,183 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Premier worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Premier by 711.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 163,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,645,000 after purchasing an additional 142,907 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Premier by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,413,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,615,000 after buying an additional 129,813 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Premier by 79.5% during the first quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 264,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 117,242 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Premier by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 532,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,916,000 after acquiring an additional 126,640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Premier Price Performance

NASDAQ PINC opened at $20.48 on Thursday. Premier, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.95 and a 12 month high of $23.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.03.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 131.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Premier news, insider Andy Brailo sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total value of $346,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 87,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,784,038.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Premier news, 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 value of $346,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,784,038.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total value of $403,310.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 578,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,042,718.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 156,312 shares of company stock valued at $3,154,400. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.