Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on PINC. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Premier from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. SVB Leerink started coverage on Premier in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 target price (down from $27.00) on shares of Premier in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday. One equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Premier Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PINC traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $19.76. 2,138,610 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,579,852. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.43. Premier has a 52-week low of $18.65 and a 52-week high of $28.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Premier

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Premier during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,271,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,609,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,828 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 139.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,121,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 7,070.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 633,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after acquiring an additional 624,357 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.