Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Premier from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. 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, According to MarketBeat.com, Premier presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $22.19.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of Premier stock opened at $20.46 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.11. Premier has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $23.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.88 million. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total transaction of $403,310.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,042,718.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total transaction of $403,310.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,042,718.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $52,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 580,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,601,460. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,261 shares of company stock valued at $2,964,830. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 50.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 141.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Premier in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Premier Company 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.