Robert W. Baird Cuts Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Price Target to $19.00

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) had its price objective decreased by Robert W. Baird from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

Premier Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PINC opened at $18.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.43. Premier has a 52 week low of $17.95 and a 52 week high of $23.56.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. The business had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Premier will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,060,060.48. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.88, for a total value of $437,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,444,149.16. The trade was a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Premier by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in Premier by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 20,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Premier by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Premier by 157.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 7.1% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 11,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.