59,900 Shares in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Premier by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Premier by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Premier by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Premier by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 32,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PINC shares. Barclays started coverage on Premier in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Premier has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.15.

Premier Stock Up 1.9 %

PINC stock opened at $21.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.38. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.89 and a 1-year high of $33.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.18.

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

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.43%.

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.