Michael J. Alkire Sells 17,415 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Stock

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,060,060.48. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of PINC stock opened at $22.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.80. Premier, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.95 and a 1-year high of $23.43. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Premier had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The business had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 2.4% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 20,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Premier by 2.0% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew 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 purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Premier by 137.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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 boosted their price objective on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Premier currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.36.

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.