Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Invests $1.53 Million in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 68,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,529,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,013,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,067 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Premier by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,609,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,828 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Premier by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,479,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,811,000 after acquiring an additional 532,918 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Premier by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,445,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,310,000 after acquiring an additional 168,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,284,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,609,000 after purchasing an additional 56,425 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Premier Price Performance

Shares of PINC opened at $20.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.18. Premier, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.89 and a 52-week high of $33.58.

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

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.