Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PINC shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Premier from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of Premier in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink began coverage on Premier in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Premier news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.41, for a total transaction of $388,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 183,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,042.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Premier news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.41, for a total transaction of $388,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 183,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,042.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 8,331 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.64, for a total value of $163,620.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,341,146.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,960 shares of company stock worth $683,406 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PINC. Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Premier during the 3rd quarter worth $1,278,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 42,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 17,356 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 7,070.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 633,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 624,357 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 715,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,391,000 after purchasing an additional 107,757 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Price Performance

PINC stock opened at $19.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $20.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.23. Premier has a 1 year low of $18.65 and a 1 year high of $28.30.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.25%.

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.