Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Shares Gap Down to $20.50

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $20.50, but opened at $19.96. Premier shares last traded at $20.12, with a volume of 81,574 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PINC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Premier from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Benchmark downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Premier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.19.

Premier Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 0.42.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.88 million. Premier had a net margin of 6.01% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $52,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 580,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,601,460. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Premier news, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.13, for a total value of $349,758.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 562,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,327,110.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 2,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $52,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,601,460. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,429 shares of company stock valued at $2,245,068. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in Premier by 86.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 349,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 161,720 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 29.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 11,645 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the second quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Premier in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $468,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Premier by 6.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,241,000 after purchasing an additional 98,544 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.