Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.04), Zacks reports. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%.

Premier Stock Performance

PINC stock opened at $22.40 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.96. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.43. Premier has a fifty-two week low of $17.95 and a fifty-two week high of $23.56.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,136 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $25,207.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $529,142.74. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 18,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total value of $400,553.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,951,317.20. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Premier from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Premier from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Premier from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Premier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.36.

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.