Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) Short Interest Up 23.3% in January

Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,470,000 shares, a growth of 23.3% from the December 31st total of 7,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.3 days. Currently, 10.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Premier Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Premier stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $22.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,238,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,925. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.96. Premier has a 1-year low of $17.95 and a 1-year high of $23.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.43.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Premier had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 11.41%. The business had revenue of $248.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Premier will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Premier’s payout ratio is 61.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Leigh Anderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.88, for a total transaction of $437,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,444,149.16. This trade represents a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 17,415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.16, for a total value of $403,331.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 520,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,060,060.48. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,425 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,242 over the last 90 days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Premier

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Premier by 61,750.0% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Premier by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Premier in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Premier during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Premier by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. 74.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.