Guggenheim Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Guggenheim Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PINC. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its position in Premier by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 78,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Premier by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 39,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Premier by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Premier by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Premier by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.85% of the company’s stock.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of PINC opened at $22.96 on Wednesday. Premier, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.05 and a 12-month high of $36.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.10 and its 200 day moving average is $28.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.33.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02. Premier had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $340.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.59 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Premier’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PINC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Premier from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on shares of Premier from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Premier from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Premier from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Premier has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.64.

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.