Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

PRGO has been the topic of several other research reports. Piper Sandler cut Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of Perrigo in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Perrigo in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

Perrigo Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PRGO opened at $24.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $26.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.79 and a beta of 0.53. Perrigo has a 1-year low of $23.89 and a 1-year high of $33.96.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.81. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.276 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is -94.02%.

Insider Activity

In other Perrigo news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total transaction of $497,495.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,409 shares in the company, valued at $152,912.43. The trade was a 76.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perrigo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PRGO. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Perrigo by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 37,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 119,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Perrigo by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 2,929 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Perrigo by 83.2% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,940,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,821,000 after purchasing an additional 881,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Perrigo by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,162,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,935,000 after purchasing an additional 249,640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Company Profile

Perrigo Company plc provides over-the-counter health and wellness solutions to enhance individual well-being in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Consumer Self-Care Americas and Consumer Self-Care International segments. The company develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes self-care consumer products, such as upper respiratory products, including cough suppressants, expectorants, and sinus and allergy relief; nutrition products consisting of infant formulas and nutritional beverages; digestive health products, including antacids, anti-diarrheal, and anti-heartburn; pain and sleep-aids products comprising pain relievers and fever reducers; and oral care products, which include toothbrushes, toothbrush replacement heads, floss, flossers, whitening products, and toothbrush covers.