Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Makes New $4.47 Million Investment in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 223,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,466,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.22% of Premier as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PINC. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 11,945 shares of the company's stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 196.7% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 8,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 58,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 7,038 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 165.5% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 83,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 51,955 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 20,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PINC shares. Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Premier from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Premier currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.81.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,900 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $358,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 540,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,804,860. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $90,038.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 104,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,141,449.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,900 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $358,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 540,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,804,860. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,441 shares of company stock worth $2,738,548 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Premier Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PINC traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.28. 774,450 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,362,374. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $19.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.68. Premier, Inc. has a one year low of $17.95 and a one year high of $23.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.41.

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, 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 business had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Premier's payout ratio is 81.55%.

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.