Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PRGO. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Perrigo in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of Perrigo in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Perrigo Price Performance

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

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.81. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Perrigo

In related news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 approximately $152,912.43. This represents a 76.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perrigo

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 249,640 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Perrigo by 11.2% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 3,882,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,701,000 after acquiring an additional 391,646 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Perrigo by 229.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,697,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,145 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in Perrigo by 23.1% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,482,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,117,000 after acquiring an additional 465,161 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its stake in Perrigo by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,391,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,402,000 after purchasing an additional 117,230 shares in the last quarter. 95.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Perrigo

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.