Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Price Target Lowered to $19.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) had its target price lowered by Canaccord Genuity Group from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Benchmark cut Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $21.81.

Premier Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PINC opened at $19.39 on Wednesday. Premier has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.15 and a 200-day moving average of $19.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Premier will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Premier’s payout ratio is 131.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $52,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580,073 shares in the company, valued at $11,601,460. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $52,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 580,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,601,460. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Craig S. Mckasson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 288,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,762,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 166,312 shares of company stock worth $3,386,850 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Premier by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,213,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,805,000 after buying an additional 199,702 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Premier by 384.3% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Premier by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,105,000 after purchasing an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 worth $47,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,017 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Premier by 60.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

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.