Piper Sandler Downgrades Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) to Neutral

Piper Sandler cut shares of Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Piper Sandler currently has $27.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $34.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Perrigo in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Perrigo in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Perrigo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

Perrigo Stock Performance

Shares of Perrigo stock opened at $25.05 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.41 and a beta of 0.53. Perrigo has a one year low of $23.89 and a one year high of $34.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.78 and its 200-day moving average is $26.82.

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

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.276 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is currently -94.02%.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total value of $497,495.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,912.43. This represents a 76.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perrigo

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRGO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Perrigo by 3.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,162,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,935,000 after purchasing an additional 249,640 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in Perrigo by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 3,882,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,701,000 after buying an additional 391,646 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 229.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,697,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,761,000 after buying an additional 1,878,145 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Perrigo by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,482,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,117,000 after purchasing an additional 465,161 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT grew its position in shares of Perrigo by 5.2% during 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. 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.