Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Michael J. Alkire Sells 17,415 Shares

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 520,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,060,060.48. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Premier Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PINC opened at $22.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.80. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Premier’s payout ratio is 61.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PINC shares. Barclays lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Benchmark lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Premier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.36.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Premier by 384.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,007,851 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Premier by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,105,000 after purchasing an additional 773,207 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Premier by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,303,000 after buying an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Premier by 8,726.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,275,000 after buying an additional 370,192 shares during the period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Premier by 37.7% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,027,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,706,000 after buying an additional 281,131 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.