Insider Selling: Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Director Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $53,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $442,708.56. This trade represents a 10.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Premier Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PINC traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,315,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,169. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.85 million. Premier had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays upped their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. 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 a consensus target price of $21.36.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,007,851 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Premier by 14.9% in 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. grew its holdings in Premier by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,303,000 after purchasing an additional 772,392 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the second quarter worth about $5,138,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Premier by 145.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 381,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,128,000 after purchasing an additional 226,290 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Premier Company 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.