Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Price Target Lowered to $19.00 at Robert W. Baird

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) had its price target decreased by Robert W. Baird from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on PINC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

Premier Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ PINC opened at $19.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.94. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.43. Premier has a twelve month low of $17.95 and a twelve month high of $23.56.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $248.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.85 million. Premier had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 10.74%. Premier’s revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Premier will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. Premier’s payout ratio is 61.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In related news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total value of $53,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $442,708.56. This represents a 10.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 520,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,060,060.48. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Premier by 157.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Premier by 297.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Premier by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 58,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,234,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Premier by 619.9% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 5,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Premier in the 4th quarter valued at $353,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.41% 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.