Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 109.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 468,524 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 245,239 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.49% of Premier worth $9,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PINC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Premier by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,627 shares of the company's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 8,560 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Premier by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 256,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,465,000 after buying an additional 44,480 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Premier by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,906 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,921 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Premier in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.36.

Insider Activity at Premier

In related news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $53,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $442,708.56. The trade was a 10.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total transaction of $403,331.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 520,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,060,060.48. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,425 shares of company stock worth $1,320,242. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Premier Stock Performance

NASDAQ PINC traded up $0.40 on Friday, reaching $22.43. 951,251 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,191,449. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.65. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 0.43. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.56.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. The firm had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.77%.

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.