Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 21,756 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 494,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,756 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Premier worth $9,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 384.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,828,000 after buying an additional 5,007,851 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Premier by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,105,000 after acquiring an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Premier by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Premier by 6.6% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Premier by 37.7% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,027,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,706,000 after purchasing an additional 281,131 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of Premier stock opened at $22.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.40. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.43.

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

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PINC has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In other Premier news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total value of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 131,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,584,091.34. The trade was a 13.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 1,319 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total value of $26,327.24. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 102,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,241.32. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 142,856 shares of company stock valued at $2,941,879. Corporate 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.