Citadel Advisors LLC Acquires 89,499 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Citadel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC – Get Rating) by 34.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 351,688 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 89,499 shares during the quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC owned about 0.30% of Premier worth $11,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Premier by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,216,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,205,000 after purchasing an additional 390,512 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Premier by 5.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,365,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,230,000 after buying an additional 177,415 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Premier by 2.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,744,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,931,000 after acquiring an additional 67,300 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Premier by 9.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,459,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,534,000 after acquiring an additional 206,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Premier by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,172,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,307,000 after acquiring an additional 63,399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PINC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Premier from $41.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Credit Suisse Group raised Premier from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, SVB Leerink lowered their target price on shares of Premier from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.70.

Premier Price Performance

PINC stock opened at $31.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.09 and its 200 day moving average is $33.58. Premier, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.62 and a 52 week high of $38.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.11. Premier had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 12.85%. The firm had revenue of $359.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.36 million. Research analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Premier’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Premier Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Premier, Inc engages in the provision of healthcare improvement solutions. It operates through the Supply Chain Services and Performance Services segments. The Supply Chain Services segment includes healthcare group purchasing organization (GPO) programs in the United States, supply chain co-management, and direct sourcing activities.