Cwm LLC Boosts Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Cwm LLC boosted its position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 10.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 45,039 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,185 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Premier were worth $901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Premier by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,213,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,805,000 after acquiring an additional 199,702 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Premier by 384.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,007,851 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 773,207 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Premier by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,303,000 after acquiring an additional 772,392 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Premier by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,241,000 after acquiring an additional 98,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of PINC opened at $20.26 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.89 and its 200 day moving average is $19.76. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 0.41.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced 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. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The company had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Premier’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PINC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $90,038.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,449.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,771 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.12, for a total transaction of $396,443.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 543,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,487,738.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $90,038.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,141,449.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 171,587 shares of company stock worth $3,484,750. Insiders own 0.85% 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.