5,934 Shares in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PINC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Premier by 12.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,013,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597,067 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Premier by 108.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 350,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,535,000 after purchasing an additional 181,979 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in Premier during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,712,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Premier by 984.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 518,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,158,000 after buying an additional 471,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 267.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 174,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after buying an additional 126,662 shares in the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PINC. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Premier in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.15.

Premier Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PINC opened at $20.64 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.38. Premier, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.89 and a 12-month high of $33.58.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $334.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $338.55 million. Premier had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 11.60%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

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

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.