Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $22.00. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Premier traded as low as $18.65 and last traded at $19.44, with a volume of 605580 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.41.

PINC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $21.00 target price (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Premier in a report on Wednesday. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Premier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.77.

Institutional Trading of Premier

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Premier by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,213,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,805,000 after acquiring an additional 199,702 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Premier by 65.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,609,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,828 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the 4th quarter worth about $51,271,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Premier by 139.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Premier by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,479,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,811,000 after purchasing an additional 532,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Premier Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 11.60%. The firm had revenue of $334.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $338.55 million. On average, analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Premier’s payout ratio is 60.43%.

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.