Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Makes New Investment in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 68,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,529,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Premier at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Premier by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Premier by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Premier by 153.3% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Premier by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PINC has been the topic of several recent research reports. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $22.50 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Premier in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.15.

Premier Stock Performance

NASDAQ PINC traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.96. 1,195,560 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,103,782. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Premier, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.89 and a fifty-two week high of $33.58.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $334.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $338.55 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 12.71%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Premier, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Premier's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.43%.

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.