Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Free Report) by 151.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,795 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.05% of Premier worth $1,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Premier by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,013,386 shares of the company's stock worth $301,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,067 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 108.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 350,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,535,000 after acquiring an additional 181,979 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,712,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Premier by 984.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 518,964 shares of the company's stock worth $11,158,000 after acquiring an additional 471,131 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Premier by 267.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 174,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 126,662 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PINC. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays started coverage on Premier in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. SVB Leerink started coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $22.50 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Premier from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.15.

Premier Price Performance

NASDAQ:PINC traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.96. 1,195,560 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,103,782. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.38. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.89 and a 1 year high of $33.58.

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

Premier Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. Premier's payout ratio is 60.43%.

Premier 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.