Insider Selling: Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Sells 18,736 Shares of Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,736 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total transaction of $375,656.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 559,407 shares in the company, valued at $11,216,110.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of Premier stock opened at $19.39 on Thursday. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.95 and a 1 year high of $23.01. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.94.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. Premier’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Premier’s payout ratio is 131.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.81.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 50.0% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 2.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 0.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 77,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 1.6% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 69,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Premier by 141.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

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.