Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Purchases 68,112 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 26.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 327,551 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 68,112 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned approximately 0.33% of Premier worth $6,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 purchasing an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Premier by 60.4% during the second 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $29,241,000 after purchasing an additional 98,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 281,131 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PINC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark lowered Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.44.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PINC traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.97. The company had a trading volume of 598,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,359,525. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 0.40. The business's 50-day moving average is $20.08 and its 200 day moving average is $19.72. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 8.88%. Premier's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $90,038.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,449.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total value of $403,310.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,042,718.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,141,449.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,738,548. Company insiders own 0.96% 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.