Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,052 Premier, Inc. $PINC

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ:PINC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Premier by 72.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Premier by 112.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Premier by 2,172.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 2,803 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the 1st quarter worth about $125,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Premier in the 1st quarter worth about $125,000. 74.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of Premier stock opened at $28.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.82 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.02 and its 200 day moving average is $23.64. Premier, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.23 and a 1 year high of $28.79.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of ($713.06) million for the quarter. Premier had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 7.04%. On average, equities analysts expect that Premier, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Premier’s payout ratio is presently 381.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Premier from $25.00 to $28.25 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Premier from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Premier in a research report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Premier from $26.00 to $28.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $26.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John T. Bigalke sold 1,137 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total value of $29,323.23. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,536 shares in the company, valued at $710,153.44. The trade was a 3.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andy Brailo sold 6,521 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.79, for a total transaction of $168,176.59. Following the transaction, the insider owned 99,447 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,738.13. This represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,326 shares of company stock worth $317,230 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.