Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,382 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Premier were worth $612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Premier by 153.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Premier by 53.0% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Premier by 246.5% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Premier by 29.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $133,000. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on PINC shares. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Premier in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Premier in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.15.

Premier Price Performance

Premier stock opened at $21.05 on Tuesday. Premier, Inc. has a one year low of $18.89 and a one year high of $33.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Premier’s payout ratio is currently 60.43%.

About Premier

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.