Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 5,007,851 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 384.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,007,851 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 6.02% of Premier worth $117,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Premier during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Premier by 50.0% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Premier by 141.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 265.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Premier Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PINC opened at $19.89 on Friday. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.12 and its 200-day moving average is $20.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a P/E/G ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.25. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Premier’s payout ratio is presently 131.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $52,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 580,073 shares in the company, valued at $11,601,460. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.12, for a total transaction of $396,443.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 543,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,487,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 580,073 shares in the company, valued at $11,601,460. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 166,312 shares of company stock worth $3,358,500. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.