Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) COO Sells $437,600.00 in Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.88, for a total transaction of $437,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,707 shares in the company, valued at $2,444,149.16. This represents a 15.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Leigh Anderson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 1st, Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of Premier stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00.

Premier Trading Up 0.6 %

PINC stock opened at $21.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.42. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.30.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly 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. Premier had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The firm had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Premier’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PINC. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.36.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Premier by 27.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 428,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,562,000 after acquiring an additional 92,766 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Premier by 6.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,241,000 after purchasing an additional 98,544 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 32,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Premier during the third quarter worth about $678,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

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.