Craig S. Mckasson Sells 10,000 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total value of $204,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 263,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,096.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Premier Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:PINC opened at $19.89 on Monday. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PINC. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Premier by 86.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 349,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,497,000 after buying an additional 161,720 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Premier by 29.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 11,645 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Premier in the 2nd quarter valued at $225,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Premier in the 2nd quarter valued at $468,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Premier by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,241,000 after purchasing an additional 98,544 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PINC. Benchmark downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 cut their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.94.

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.