Newport Trust Company LLC Lowers Position in Premier, Inc. $PINC

Key Points

• Newport Trust Company LLC reduced its stake in Premier, Inc. by 5.1%, owning approximately 1.07% of the company after selling 52,070 shares.
• Institutional investors currently own 74.41% of Premier's stock, with several firms increasing their holdings in recent months.
• Piper Sandler and Canaccord Genuity Group have both raised their price targets for Premier, now at $24.00 and $25.00, respectively, while the stock holds an average rating of "Reduce."

Newport Trust Company LLC decreased its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 976,330 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,070 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC owned 1.07% of Premier worth $18,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,891,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,752,000 after buying an additional 292,979 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,897,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,582,000 after buying an additional 84,016 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,392,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,851,000 after buying an additional 117,398 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 921,163 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,760,000 after buying an additional 66,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 762,337 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,162,000 after buying an additional 21,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Premier

In other news, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 3,349 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.57, for a total transaction of $85,633.93. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 97,257 shares in the company, valued at $2,486,861.49. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,137 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total transaction of $26,185.11. Following the sale, the director owned 28,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $660,339.19. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,486 shares of company stock worth $157,579 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PINC. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Premier from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on shares of Premier from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $24.50.

Premier Price Performance

PINC traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.05. 316,260 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,617,557. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 118.32 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50-day moving average price is $22.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.01. Premier, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.23 and a 1-year high of $27.26.

Premier Announces Dividend

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

Premier Company Profile

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.