Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Shares Purchased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 40.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,047 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Premier were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 6.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,241,000 after acquiring an additional 98,544 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Premier in the third quarter valued at approximately $678,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 384.3% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the third quarter worth approximately $4,466,000. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PINC has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.36.

Premier Stock Performance

PINC stock opened at $22.84 on Friday. Premier, Inc. has a one year low of $17.95 and a one year high of $23.43. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.84.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 131,707 shares in the company, valued at $2,584,091.34. This trade represents a 13.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total value of $403,310.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,042,718.69. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 142,856 shares of company stock valued at $2,941,879. Company insiders own 0.96% 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.