Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PINC. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Premier has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.81.

Premier Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Premier stock opened at $20.15 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.68. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.41. Premier has a 12-month low of $17.95 and a 12-month high of $23.01.

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

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Premier’s payout ratio is 81.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Premier news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 131,707 shares in the company, valued at $2,584,091.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total value of $403,310.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,042,718.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 131,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,584,091.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,441 shares of company stock worth $2,738,548 in the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in Premier during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Premier by 265.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Premier by 50.0% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Premier during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 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.