Insider Selling: Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CFO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total value of $204,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 263,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,096.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Premier Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of PINC opened at $19.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a P/E/G ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.40. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.12 and a 200-day moving average of $20.03.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Premier’s payout ratio is presently 131.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Benchmark cut Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Premier currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.94.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PINC. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 384.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,828,000 after buying an additional 5,007,851 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,271,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 139.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,121,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,441,000 after buying an additional 1,235,017 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,303,000 after buying an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Company 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.