Premier, Inc. $PINC Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Premier, Inc. by 3.0%, selling 175,511 shares and now holding approximately 5,707,633 shares valued at $110,042,000.
• Directors Helen M. Boudreau and John T. Bigalke recently sold shares of the company, decreasing their ownership positions by 9.68% and 3.81% respectively.
• Premier announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on September 15, representing a 3.3% dividend yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its holdings in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,707,633 shares of the company's stock after selling 175,511 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 6.25% of Premier worth $110,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Premier by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in Premier during the 1st quarter valued at about $125,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Premier during the 1st quarter valued at about $125,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Premier by 97.6% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in Premier by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. 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 boosted their price target on Premier from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on Premier from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Premier from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Premier from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Premier has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $24.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 3,349 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.57, for a total value of $85,633.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 97,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,486,861.49. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.88, for a total value of $45,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,123.84. The trade was a 9.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,805 shares of company stock valued at $191,675. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Premier Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of PINC traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $26.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,116,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,608. Premier, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.23 and a 52-week high of $27.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.41 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.10.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Premier's dividend payout ratio is presently 381.82%.

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.