Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Short Interest Update

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,430,000 shares, a drop of 13.2% from the February 28th total of 18,930,000 shares. Currently, 18.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 11.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PINC. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Premier has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.17.

Premier Trading Down 0.5 %

Premier stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,261,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,144. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.45. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -194.38 and a beta of 0.39. Premier has a fifty-two week low of $17.23 and a fifty-two week high of $23.56.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -840.00%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $53,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $442,708.56. This trade represents a 10.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.53, for a total value of $195,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 90,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,769,359.41. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,637 shares of company stock worth $268,793. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PINC. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Premier by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,041 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Premier by 2.4% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 20,409 shares of the company's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 157.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,284 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Premier by 61,750.0% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,237 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Premier Company 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.