Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.06), Zacks reports. Premier had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 7.04%.

Premier Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PINC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 162,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,627,875. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.34 and a 200-day moving average of $24.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.98 and a beta of 0.64. Premier has a 12-month low of $17.23 and a 12-month high of $28.79.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 381.82%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In related news, insider Andy Brailo sold 6,521 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $168,176.59. Following the transaction, the insider owned 99,447 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,738.13. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 1,319 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total transaction of $34,096.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 94,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,456.35. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,326 shares of company stock valued at $317,230 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PINC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Premier by 155.1% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Premier by 316.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Premier by 131.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Premier by 1,069.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 7,190 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in Premier during the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,000. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PINC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $25.00 to $28.25 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $26.00 to $28.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Premier from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Premier in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $26.07.

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.