Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $113.53 Million Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,355,220 shares of the company's stock after selling 632,825 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 5.57% of Premier worth $113,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Premier by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,973,582 shares of the company's stock worth $79,472,000 after acquiring an additional 32,193 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Premier by 5.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,741,784 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,836,000 after acquiring an additional 97,458 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $29,241,000 after acquiring an additional 98,544 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Premier by 109.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 468,524 shares of the company's stock worth $9,933,000 after purchasing an additional 245,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Premier by 27.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 428,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,562,000 after purchasing an additional 92,766 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PINC. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.36.

Premier Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ PINC traded up $0.55 on Monday, hitting $22.94. 825,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,216,333. Premier, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.95 and a 1-year high of $23.56. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.83.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Premier's payout ratio is presently 61.77%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 520,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,060,060.48. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $53,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $442,708.56. The trade was a 10.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,425 shares of company stock worth $1,320,242 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.