Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Stock Price Down 4.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) shares were down 4.2% during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $19.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Premier traded as low as $19.59 and last traded at $19.59. Approximately 40,504 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the average daily volume of 1,463,257 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.44.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Premier from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Premier news, insider Andy Brailo sold 17,000 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $346,970.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 87,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,784,038.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.63, for a total value of $372,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 163,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,053,978.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 17,000 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $346,970.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,784,038.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 156,312 shares of company stock valued at $3,154,400 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 384.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,311,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,828,000 after acquiring an additional 5,007,851 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Premier during the fourth quarter worth $51,271,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Premier by 139.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,121,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,441,000 after buying an additional 1,235,017 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 14.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,951,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,105,000 after buying an additional 773,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Premier by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,051,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,303,000 after buying an additional 772,392 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Premier Trading Up 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.06.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The business had revenue of $350.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. Premier’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Premier’s payout ratio is currently 131.25%.

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.