Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.17.

A number of analysts have recently commented on PINC shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PINC opened at $18.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of -182.18 and a beta of 0.43. Premier has a one year low of $17.69 and a one year high of $23.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.69 and a 200 day moving average of $20.74.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Premier’s payout ratio is currently -840.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total value of $400,553.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,354 shares in the company, valued at $10,951,317.20. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $529,142.74. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,010 shares of company stock valued at $916,911 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Premier by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Premier by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 20,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Premier by 157.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its position in Premier by 7.1% in 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. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Premier by 6.7% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.