Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,214 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Premier worth $1,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Premier by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,973,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,472,000 after acquiring an additional 32,193 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 5.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,741,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,836,000 after acquiring an additional 97,458 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Premier by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 495,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,515,000 after acquiring an additional 67,909 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 109.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 468,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,933,000 after acquiring an additional 245,239 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 26.3% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 327,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,551,000 after acquiring an additional 68,112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Premier news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 20,668 shares in the company, valued at $442,708.56. This represents a 10.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $25,207.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,846 shares in the company, valued at $529,142.74. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,010 shares of company stock worth $916,911 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.17.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of Premier stock opened at $18.18 on Friday. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $23.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -181.78 and a beta of 0.43.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Premier’s payout ratio is -840.00%.

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.