StockNews.com Downgrades Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) to Hold

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on PINC. Benchmark lowered Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.81.

Premier Price Performance

NASDAQ:PINC traded up $2.66 on Tuesday, reaching $22.67. The stock had a trading volume of 2,539,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,361,500. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.40. Premier has a 12-month low of $17.95 and a 12-month high of $23.01. The firm's fifty day moving average is $19.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.66.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Premier

In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 1,264 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $25,292.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 558,143 shares in the company, valued at $11,168,441.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 1,264 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $25,292.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 558,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,168,441.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 131,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,584,091.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,738,548 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Premier by 384.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company's stock worth $117,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,007,851 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Premier by 14.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company's stock worth $111,105,000 after buying an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Premier by 60.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,303,000 after acquiring an additional 772,392 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Premier by 6.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,241,000 after acquiring an additional 98,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,027,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,706,000 after purchasing an additional 281,131 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company's stock.

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.