Brokerages Set Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Price Target at $26.07

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.4583.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Premier from $26.00 to $28.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Premier from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Premier from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Premier from $28.00 to $28.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In related news, insider Andy Brailo sold 6,521 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $168,176.59. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 99,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,738.13. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,137 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $29,323.23. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,536 shares in the company, valued at $710,153.44. This trade represents a 3.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 12,326 shares of company stock valued at $317,230 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Premier by 137.3% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 16,531 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Premier during the first quarter worth $914,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Premier by 88.1% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 170,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 79,971 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Premier by 7.8% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 921,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,760,000 after purchasing an additional 66,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Premier by 40.1% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 563,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,872,000 after purchasing an additional 161,501 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Premier Stock Performance

Premier stock opened at $28.15 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of -104.26 and a beta of 0.64. Premier has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $28.79.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of ($713.06) million for the quarter. Premier had a positive return on equity of 6.84% and a negative net margin of 3.28%. On average, analysts forecast that Premier will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently -311.11%.

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.