State Street Corp Boosts Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,973,582 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 32,193 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 3.97% of Premier worth $79,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PINC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Premier by 38.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,271 shares of the company's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 4,231 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Premier by 15.5% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 28,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 3,884 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Premier in the second quarter valued at $1,043,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Premier during the second quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Premier by 35.4% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,800 shares of the company's stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 11,200 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 1,264 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total value of $25,292.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 558,143 shares in the company, valued at $11,168,441.43. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 131,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,584,091.34. This represents a 13.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,825 shares of company stock valued at $1,980,442 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Premier Stock Performance

PINC traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,191,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,807. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.42. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.56. The company's 50-day moving average price is $21.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.21.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The business's revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Premier's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.76%.

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.