River Road Asset Management LLC Trims Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

River Road Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 838,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240,538 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned 0.70% of Premier worth $18,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Premier by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,013,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,067 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 108.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 350,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,535,000 after acquiring an additional 181,979 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in Premier during the 3rd quarter worth $1,712,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Premier by 984.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 518,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,158,000 after purchasing an additional 471,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Premier by 267.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 174,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 126,662 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Premier Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Premier stock opened at $20.64 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.18. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.89 and a fifty-two week high of $33.58. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. Premier had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 12.71%. The business had revenue of $334.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $338.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PINC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Premier in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Premier in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.15.

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.