Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Given New $24.00 Price Target at Barclays

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Barclays from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.48% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also 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 on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.19.

Premier Stock Performance

PINC stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.97. 196,067 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,355,743. Premier has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 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 business had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Premier’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In related news, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 278,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,562,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 10,000 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 278,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,562,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total value 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 approximately $2,584,091.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,441 shares of company stock worth $2,738,548 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Premier by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 62,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,256,000 after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Premier by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Premier by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 327,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,551,000 after purchasing an additional 68,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in Premier during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $287,000. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.