Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.36.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PINC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other Premier news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.88, for a total transaction of $437,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,444,149.16. The trade was a 15.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $358,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 540,243 shares in the company, valued at $10,804,860. This trade represents a 3.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,825 shares of company stock worth $1,624,692. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PINC. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 2.4% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 20,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Premier by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Premier by 37.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Premier by 7.1% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 11,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of PINC opened at $21.37 on Friday. Premier has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.41.

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

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.76%.

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.