Robert W. Baird Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Stock Price

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target indicates a potential upside of 0.26% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

Premier Stock Down 1.4 %

PINC stock opened at $18.95 on Wednesday. Premier has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $23.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 0.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Premier’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Premier will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total transaction of $403,331.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at $12,060,060.48. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $25,207.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $529,142.74. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,425 shares of company stock worth $1,320,242 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 61,750.0% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 137.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 157.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Company 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.