Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,988,045 shares of the company's stock after selling 323,044 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 5.98% of Premier worth $119,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the first quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Premier by 137.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Premier by 50.0% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Premier by 265.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,140 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the second quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PINC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.36.

Premier Price Performance

Premier stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 622,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,332,622. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.84. Premier, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.95 and a 1-year high of $23.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. Premier's quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Premier's payout ratio is currently 61.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $12,060,060.48. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $90,038.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,141,449.10. This trade represents a 4.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 142,856 shares of company stock valued at $2,941,879 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.