Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Shares Acquired by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. lifted its position in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC – Get Rating) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,275 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,130 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. owned approximately 0.12% of Premier worth $4,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PINC. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Premier by 594.2% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 485,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,473,000 after purchasing an additional 415,449 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Premier in the 3rd quarter valued at about $78,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Premier by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 4,996 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in Premier by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 30,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 9,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Premier by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,170,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,679,000 after purchasing an additional 26,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PINC. Credit Suisse Group upgraded Premier from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 27th. SVB Leerink lowered their price target on Premier from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Premier from $41.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Premier in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.70.

Premier Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PINC traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.75. 806,785 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 601,769. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.62 and a 12-month high of $38.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.42.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $359.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.36 million. Premier had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 12.85%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Premier 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.