Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• Premier, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from seven research firms, with one sell rating and six hold ratings, alongside an average target price of $25.29.
• Insider transactions raised concerns as key executives sold significant shares recently, indicating a 3.33% and 6.15% decrease in their ownership stakes, respectively.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, set to be paid on September 15, but has a high dividend payout ratio of 381.82%.

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Reduce" by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.2857.

PINC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Premier from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Premier from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Premier from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th.

Premier Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PINC traded down $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.54. The company had a trading volume of 158,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,616,254. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 120.61 and a beta of 0.61. The business's 50 day moving average price is $23.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.76. Premier has a 52 week low of $17.23 and a 52 week high of $28.79.

Premier Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Premier news, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 1,319 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total transaction of $34,096.15. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 94,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,438,456.35. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,137 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $29,323.23. Following the sale, the director owned 27,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,153.44. This trade represents a 3.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,326 shares of company stock worth $317,230. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Premier

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Premier by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 741,739 shares of the company's stock worth $15,725,000 after purchasing an additional 126,217 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Premier by 162.1% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 74,863 shares of the company's stock worth $1,587,000 after buying an additional 46,302 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Premier by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,906 shares of the company's stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 3,476 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Premier by 238.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 199,280 shares of the company's stock worth $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 140,367 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. bought a new position in shares of Premier in the fourth quarter valued at $249,000. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.