Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Raises Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,752 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,960 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. owned about 0.09% of Premier worth $1,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Premier by 13.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 18,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 2,184 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in Premier by 145.5% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 381,799 shares of the company's stock worth $7,128,000 after acquiring an additional 226,290 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP grew its position in shares of Premier by 1.6% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 69,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Premier by 37.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Premier by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company's stock worth $29,241,000 after purchasing an additional 98,544 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,060,060.48. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $25,207.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $529,142.74. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of Premier stock traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $22.39. The company had a trading volume of 511,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,402. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $21.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.74. Premier, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $23.56.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. The business had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $232.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Premier's dividend payout ratio 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.