Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.36.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Benchmark lowered Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Premier Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of PINC traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.75. The stock had a trading volume of 686,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,351,366. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.40. Premier has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.43. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $20.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.77.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Premier had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The firm had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Premier will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

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 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 yield of 3.69%. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.77%.

Insider Activity at Premier

In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 1,319 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.96, for a total value of $26,327.24. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 102,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,045,241.32. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 142,856 shares of company stock worth $2,941,879 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Premier by 384.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company's stock worth $117,828,000 after purchasing an additional 5,007,851 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 14.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company's stock worth $111,105,000 after buying an additional 773,207 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,303,000 after acquiring an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 5.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 98,544 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company's stock.

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.