Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Short Interest Down 17.1% in March

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) was the target of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,790,000 shares, a drop of 17.1% from the February 28th total of 4,570,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Perrigo Stock Performance

Shares of PRGO traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,250,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,644,757. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of -23.65 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.56. Perrigo has a one year low of $23.14 and a one year high of $33.46.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Perrigo will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Perrigo’s payout ratio is currently -92.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total value of $214,032.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 6,828.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,845,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,710,000 after buying an additional 7,732,309 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Perrigo by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,989,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,698,000 after acquiring an additional 27,835 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in Perrigo by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 4,557,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,182,000 after purchasing an additional 50,728 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Perrigo by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 3,573,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,879,000 after purchasing an additional 139,650 shares during the period. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Perrigo by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,820,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,502,000 after purchasing an additional 941,667 shares during the period. 95.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.