SG Americas Securities LLC Takes $133,000 Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 5,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Premier by 12.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,013,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,067 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Premier by 108.0% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 350,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,535,000 after purchasing an additional 181,979 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the third quarter valued at about $1,712,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 471,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 267.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 174,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after buying an additional 126,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PINC has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Premier in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Premier currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.15.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of PINC stock opened at $20.64 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $21.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.38. Premier, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.89 and a 12 month high of $33.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $334.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $338.55 million. Premier had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 11.60%. Analysts predict that Premier, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.