Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PINC. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Finally, Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Premier currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $21.94.

Premier Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of Premier stock opened at $20.29 on Thursday. Premier has a 12-month low of $17.95 and a 12-month high of $23.01. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a PEG ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.04.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The company had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Premier’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Premier will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 131.25%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In related news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.63, for a total value of $372,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,053,978.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Premier news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.63, for a total transaction of $372,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,053,978.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $90,038.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,449.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,312 shares of company stock worth $3,154,400. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PINC. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in Premier by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,413,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,615,000 after purchasing an additional 129,813 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 59,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 17,694 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Premier by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 4,104 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Premier by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 2,352 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.