Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $583,000 Stake in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its position in Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) by 34.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,179 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,004 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Premier were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PINC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Premier in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,271,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Premier by 65.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,609,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Premier by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,013,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,067 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Premier by 7,070.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 633,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,614,000 after buying an additional 624,357 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Premier by 56.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,479,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,811,000 after buying an additional 532,918 shares during the last quarter. 74.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Premier Stock Down 3.3 %

NASDAQ PINC traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,853,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,093,965. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.20. Premier, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.89 and a twelve month high of $28.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.39.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. Premier had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 11.60%. The firm had revenue of $334.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $338.55 million. Analysts anticipate that Premier, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Premier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on PINC shares. StockNews.com downgraded Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Premier in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $22.50 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.15.

Premier Profile

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.