Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,013,386 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,597,067 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.76% of Premier worth $301,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 48.5% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 397.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 53.0% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the second quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the first quarter valued at approximately $84,000. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Premier in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.15.

Premier Stock Performance

NASDAQ PINC opened at $21.80 on Thursday. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.89 and a fifty-two week high of $33.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.46 and a 200-day moving average of $21.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $334.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $338.55 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 12.71%. As a group, analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Premier’s payout ratio is currently 60.43%.

Premier 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.