Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.36.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Premier Stock Down 0.4 %

Premier stock opened at $22.39 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.42 and its 200 day moving average is $19.79. Premier has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $23.43.

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

Premier Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,060,060.48. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 131,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,584,091.34. The trade was a 13.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 142,856 shares of company stock worth $2,941,879. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Premier by 8,726.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,275,000 after purchasing an additional 370,192 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Premier by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 428,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,562,000 after purchasing an additional 92,766 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Premier during the 1st quarter valued at about $418,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position 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 during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Premier by 6.6% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

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.