Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Takes Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 68,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,529,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Premier as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Premier by 1.6% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Premier by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Premier by 53.0% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Premier by 153.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Premier by 29.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PINC. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Premier in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Premier presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.15.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of PINC opened at $20.96 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.26 and its 200-day moving average is $21.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.38. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.89 and a fifty-two week high of $33.58.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. Premier had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 11.60%. The firm had revenue of $334.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $338.55 million. Equities research analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.