Signaturefd LLC Purchases 3,893 Shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 76.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,999 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,893 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Premier were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Premier by 1.6% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Premier by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in Premier by 53.0% in the 3rd 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Premier Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PINC stock opened at $20.96 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $21.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $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. Premier, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.89 and a 1-year high of $33.58. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.