Brandes Investment Partners LP Raises Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 86.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 349,098 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,720 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned about 0.33% of Premier worth $6,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in Premier during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Premier by 265.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Premier by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Premier by 141.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Premier during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 30,000 shares of the company’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 $600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 288,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,762,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 165,048 shares of company stock worth $3,361,557 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Premier Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ PINC opened at $20.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.96. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.25%.

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.