Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 40,124 Shares of Premier, Inc. $PINC

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Premier, Inc. by 14.0%, selling 40,124 shares and retaining ownership of 245,946 shares, valued at approximately $4.74 million.
• Premier recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $0.84 and a dividend yield of 3.2%.
• Research analysts have been bullish on Premier's stock, with multiple firms increasing their price targets, including Robert W. Baird which raised its target from $22.00 to $27.00.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,946 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,124 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of Premier worth $4,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of Premier in the 1st quarter worth $125,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Premier during the 1st quarter valued at $125,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,813 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group bought a new position in Premier during the 1st quarter valued at $221,000. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PINC shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Premier from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Premier from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective 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 raised their target price on Premier from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $25.29.

Premier Stock Down 2.5%

PINC traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.75. The stock had a trading volume of 5,856,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,737. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.99. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.23 and a 1 year high of $28.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 117.05 and a beta of 0.61.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Premier's payout ratio is presently 381.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In other Premier news, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 3,349 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,486,861.49. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 6,521 shares of Premier 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,326 shares of company stock valued at $317,230 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.