Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Sells $403,331.40 in Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 520,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,060,060.48. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Premier Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PINC stock opened at $22.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.40. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.85 million. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. Premier’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Premier by 384.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,828,000 after buying an additional 5,007,851 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,105,000 after acquiring an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Premier by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,303,000 after acquiring an additional 772,392 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Premier by 8,726.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,275,000 after purchasing an additional 370,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its stake in Premier by 37.7% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,027,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,706,000 after purchasing an additional 281,131 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PINC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.36.

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.