Keystone Financial Group Inc. Makes New $37,000 Investment in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Premier by 109.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 468,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,933,000 after purchasing an additional 245,239 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Premier by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,741,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,836,000 after purchasing an additional 97,458 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Premier by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 428,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,562,000 after purchasing an additional 92,766 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Premier by 310.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 115,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 87,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Premier during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,414,000. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PINC. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut 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 Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Premier currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Premier Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of PINC stock opened at $18.95 on Friday. Premier, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.95 and a 12-month high of $23.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 0.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Premier had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The company had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Premier’s payout ratio is 61.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.88, for a total value of $437,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,444,149.16. This trade represents a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total transaction of $403,331.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at $12,060,060.48. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,425 shares of company stock worth $1,320,242. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Premier Profile

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.