Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Premier, Inc. $PINC

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Premier, Inc. by 7.6%, owning 10.2 million shares valued at approximately $196.85 million after the sale of over 800,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Premier, Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.2%, with the dividend payout ratio at 147.37%.
• The company reported Q2 earnings of $0.43 per share, beating analysts' estimates, but experienced a 12.5% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,210,086 shares of the company's stock after selling 838,518 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.18% of Premier worth $196,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Premier by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,371 shares of the company's stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Premier by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,737 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the first quarter worth $125,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Premier by 97.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,719 shares of the company's stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,813 shares during the period. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the fourth quarter worth $229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Helen M. Boudreau sold 2,000 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.88, for a total value of $45,760.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,668 shares in the company, valued at $427,123.84. This trade represents a 9.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,137 shares of Premier stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total transaction of $26,185.11. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 28,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,339.19. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Premier from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Premier from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $24.00.

Premier Price Performance

PINC stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.14. 1,612,583 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,903,392. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.90. Premier, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.23 and a 1-year high of $27.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.28 and a beta of 0.56.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.