Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Sells $403,310.46 in Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total value of $403,310.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares in the company, valued at $12,042,718.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Premier Stock Performance

PINC traded down $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $20.46. 1,135,855 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,473,555. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.97, a PEG ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.40. Premier, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.95 and a 12-month high of $23.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.11.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The company had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Premier's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Premier's payout ratio is 131.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PINC has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Premier from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on 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 lowered their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Benchmark downgraded Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Premier presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.19.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PINC. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in Premier by 86.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 349,098 shares of the company's stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 161,720 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 11,645 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Premier in the second quarter worth about $225,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Premier during the second quarter worth approximately $468,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.