Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 158,642 Shares of Premier, Inc. $PINC

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 62.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 413,108 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 158,642 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Premier were worth $9,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PINC. CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Premier by 1.8% in the first quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 26,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Premier by 198.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Premier by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Premier by 72.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 1.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 56,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Premier

In other news, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,137 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $29,323.23. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,153.44. This trade represents a 3.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 6,521 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $168,176.59. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 99,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,738.13. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PINC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Premier from $26.00 to $28.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target 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 raised their price objective on Premier from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $26.46.

Premier Trading Up 0.3%

PINC stock opened at $28.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of -104.67 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.97. Premier, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.23 and a 1-year high of $28.79.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of ($713.06) million during 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, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

About Premier

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.