Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,200,000 shares, an increase of 19.0% from the August 15th total of 4,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Perrigo from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Perrigo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perrigo

In other news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.40, for a total transaction of $382,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $604,258.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Perrigo news, Director Katherine C. Doyle sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $244,444.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,009 shares in the company, valued at $164,045.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.40, for a total transaction of $382,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $604,258.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,254 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,969. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perrigo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRGO. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Perrigo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Perrigo by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,417,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,600,000 after purchasing an additional 37,984 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Perrigo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Perrigo by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 25,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 5,008 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Perrigo by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 52,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 6,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of PRGO stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.75. 692,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,632,369. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -396.43 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.77. Perrigo has a twelve month low of $24.82 and a twelve month high of $34.60.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 2.81% and a positive return on equity of 6.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Perrigo will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.276 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Perrigo’s payout ratio is presently -1,571.43%.

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.