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

Key Points

• Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from eight research firms, with one analyst rating the stock as a sell and seven as a hold.
• The average price objective for Premier's shares among brokerages is $26.07, indicating potential limitations on growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding 3.0%; however, its dividend payout ratio is exceedingly high at 381.82%.

Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Reduce" from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.0714.

PINC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Bank of America increased 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. 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Premier from $26.00 to $28.25 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Premier from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th.

Premier Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PINC opened at $27.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.82 and a beta of 0.64. Premier has a 52 week low of $17.23 and a 52 week high of $28.79. The company's 50-day moving average price is $25.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.69.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Premier's dividend payout ratio is 381.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Premier

In other Premier news, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,137 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $29,323.23. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,153.44. This represents a 3.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel David L. Klatsky sold 3,349 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.57, for a total transaction of $85,633.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 97,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,486,861.49. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,326 shares of company stock worth $317,230. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 508,288 shares of the company's stock worth $9,800,000 after acquiring an additional 12,303 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Premier during the 4th quarter worth about $892,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 1,435.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,924 shares of the company's stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 21,431 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 70,397 shares of the company's stock worth $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 10,468 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 56,826 shares of the company's stock worth $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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