Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to "Buy"

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

Several other research analysts also recently commented on PINC. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. 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 research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Premier has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.81.

Premier Trading Up 1.8 %

PINC traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $20.11. 538,963 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,368,799. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.68. Premier has a 52-week low of $17.95 and a 52-week high of $23.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.41.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.88 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Premier's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Premier will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.12, for a total transaction of $396,443.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 543,927 shares in the company, valued at $11,487,738.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,900 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $358,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 540,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,804,860. 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 154,212 shares of company stock valued at $3,134,991 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Premier by 384.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,828,000 after buying an additional 5,007,851 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Premier by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company's stock worth $111,105,000 after purchasing an additional 773,207 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Premier by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company's stock worth $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 37.7% in the 1st quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,027,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,706,000 after buying an additional 281,131 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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