Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Shares Sold by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. reduced its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 87.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,495 shares of the company's stock after selling 240,707 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.'s holdings in Premier were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Premier by 27.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 428,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,562,000 after buying an additional 92,766 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew 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 valued at $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Premier by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company's stock worth $29,241,000 after buying an additional 98,544 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Premier in the 3rd quarter valued at about $678,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 97,458 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of Premier stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 179,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,306,337. Premier, Inc. has a one year low of $17.95 and a one year high of $23.56. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $21.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.42.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Premier's revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Premier's payout ratio is currently 61.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Premier 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 transaction of $403,331.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 520,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,060,060.48. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total value of $346,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 87,410 shares in the company, valued at $1,784,038.10. This represents a 16.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,315 shares of company stock worth $2,105,751. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PINC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark lowered Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.36.

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.