Natixis Acquires 279,700 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Natixis boosted its holdings in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 162.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 452,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279,700 shares during the period. Natixis owned about 0.38% of Premier worth $9,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Premier by 4.0% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 131,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,062 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Premier in the first quarter valued at approximately $670,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of Premier in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Premier by 8,726.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 374,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,275,000 after acquiring an additional 370,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Premier in the first quarter valued at approximately $418,000. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PINC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Premier from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Premier in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Premier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Premier from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Premier Trading Up 0.9 %

PINC traded up $0.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $20.40. 680,961 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,561,383. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.93. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $28.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.42.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.07. Premier had a net margin of 6.01% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The firm had revenue of $342.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.92 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 6,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.85, for a total value of $131,585.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,929.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 6,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.85, for a total value of $131,585.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,929.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 8,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.64, for a total transaction of $163,620.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,341,146.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,075 shares of company stock valued at $2,702,909 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.