Kera Capital Partners Inc. Purchases Shares of 11,685 Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Premier by 384.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,007,851 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Premier by 14.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,105,000 after acquiring an additional 773,207 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Premier by 109.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 468,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,933,000 after acquiring an additional 245,239 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Premier by 145.5% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 381,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,128,000 after acquiring an additional 226,290 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Premier by 86.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 349,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 161,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Premier

In related news, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $25,207.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $529,142.74. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $53,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $442,708.56. This trade represents a 10.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Premier Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ PINC traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 951,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,191,449. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.94 and a 200 day moving average of $20.65.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Premier's dividend payout ratio is 61.77%.

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.