Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 44,480 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 256,492 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,480 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.27% of Premier worth $5,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Premier by 2.4% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 20,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Premier by 2.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Premier by 37.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Premier by 137.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PINC opened at $20.87 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.51. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.56. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PINC shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Premier news, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $25,207.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,142.74. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at $12,060,060.48. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,242 over the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.