Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 12,303 Shares of Premier, Inc. $PINC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Premier, Inc. by 2.5%, now owning 508,288 shares worth approximately $9.8 million.
• Insider trading activity included sales by Andy Brailo and John T. Bigalke, with a total of 12,326 shares sold worth $317,230 in the last 90 days.
• Premier recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing a 3.1% dividend yield and a notably high payout ratio of 381.82%.

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 508,288 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,303 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.56% of Premier worth $9,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CW Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Premier by 1.7% in 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. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Premier by 16.7% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its position in Premier by 12.8% in the first quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 17,806 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its position in Premier by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 13,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 2,286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PINC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Premier from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Premier from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Premier from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Premier from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $25.29.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of Premier stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $26.62. 235,035 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,616,624. Premier, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.23 and a 12-month high of $28.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.96 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.76.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 381.82%.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other news, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 3,349 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.57, for a total transaction of $85,633.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 97,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,486,861.49. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 6,521 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $168,176.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,564,738.13. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,326 shares of company stock worth $317,230. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.