Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 261,944 Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Heartland Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 866,157 shares of the company’s stock after selling 261,944 shares during the period. Perrigo makes up approximately 1.2% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.63% of Perrigo worth $22,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Perrigo by 94.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 151,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 73,457 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Perrigo by 347.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 145,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,731,000 after purchasing an additional 112,929 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 66,795.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,840,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837,538 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Perrigo by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 114,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 35,031 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Perrigo in the third quarter valued at about $8,892,000. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Price Performance

PRGO stock opened at $27.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of -23.71 and a beta of 0.48. Perrigo Company plc has a one year low of $23.14 and a one year high of $33.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. This is an increase from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is -92.80%.

Insider Activity

In other Perrigo news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total transaction of $214,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,666 shares in the company, valued at $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PRGO. StockNews.com cut shares of Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

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.