Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Stock Rating Lowered by Benchmark

Benchmark downgraded shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on PINC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Premier from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Premier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.19.

Premier Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PINC traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $20.02. The company had a trading volume of 925,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,477,817. Premier has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $24.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.16.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a net margin of 6.01% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Premier's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Premier will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 131.25%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 13,318 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $253,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 98,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,870,113. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Premier news, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 278,110 shares in the company, valued at $5,562,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 13,318 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $253,042.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 98,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,870,113. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 125,428 shares of company stock worth $2,471,783 over the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Premier by 711.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 163,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,645,000 after acquiring an additional 142,907 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Premier by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,413,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,615,000 after acquiring an additional 129,813 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Premier by 79.5% in the first quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 264,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 117,242 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Premier by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Premier by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 532,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,916,000 after acquiring an additional 126,640 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.