Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,741,784 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 97,458 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.74% of Premier worth $34,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 428,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,562,000 after purchasing an additional 92,766 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 6.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the 3rd quarter valued at $678,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 384.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,828,000 after purchasing an additional 5,007,851 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In related news, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $204,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 263,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,382,096.59. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $346,970.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,410 shares in the company, valued at $1,784,038.10. The trade was a 16.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 106,705 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,790 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Premier Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PINC traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.14. The company had a trading volume of 616,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,314,313. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.42.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $232.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Benchmark downgraded shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.36.

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.