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

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.36.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PINC. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Premier Price Performance

Premier stock opened at $21.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.43. Premier has a 12 month low of $17.95 and a 12 month high of $23.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.50.

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

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $358,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 540,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,804,860. The trade was a 3.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $53,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $442,708.56. This trade represents a 10.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,242 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Premier by 15.5% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 28,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 3,884 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Premier during the second quarter valued at about $56,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 35.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 11,200 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Premier by 15.2% in the second quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 60,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 8,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 26.6% during the second quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 11,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.