River Road Asset Management LLC Has $18.76 Million Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 838,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240,538 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Premier were worth $18,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Premier by 12.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,013,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597,067 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Premier by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,117,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,009,000 after purchasing an additional 133,598 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Premier by 65.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,609,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,828 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,539,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,787,000 after purchasing an additional 130,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Premier by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,388,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,863,000 after buying an additional 347,158 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of PINC opened at $20.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.38. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.89 and a twelve month high of $33.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.18.

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

Premier Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Premier in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.15.

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.