Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $220,000 Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 10,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the fourth quarter valued at $248,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 61,750.0% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Premier by 109.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 468,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,933,000 after acquiring an additional 245,239 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Premier by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 8,560 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Premier by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 256,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,465,000 after acquiring an additional 44,480 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Premier Price Performance

Premier stock opened at $22.09 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.43. Premier, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.95 and a 12-month high of $23.56.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Premier’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.77%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $53,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $442,708.56. The trade was a 10.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total transaction of $403,331.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,060,060.48. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,425 shares of company stock worth $1,320,242. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Premier Profile

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.