Pacer Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,988,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 323,044 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.06% of Premier worth $119,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Premier in the first quarter valued at $27,000. 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 buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Premier by 265.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 50.0% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Premier during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of PINC opened at $22.42 on Friday. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 0.40.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm 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 for the quarter was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In other news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 131,707 shares in the company, valued at $2,584,091.34. This trade represents a 13.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total value of $90,038.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,141,449.10. The trade was a 4.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 142,856 shares of company stock valued at $2,941,879 over the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on PINC shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Benchmark cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Premier presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.36.

Premier 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.