Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Short Interest Update

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) saw a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a decrease of 15.1% from the February 13th total of 5,380,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Perrigo Price Performance

Shares of PRGO stock opened at $28.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.34 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Perrigo has a 1-year low of $23.14 and a 1-year high of $33.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.18.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Perrigo’s payout ratio is presently -92.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Perrigo

In other Perrigo news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total value of $214,032.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,717,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,111,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Perrigo by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,160,000 after buying an additional 37,268 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Perrigo by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 541,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,190,000 after buying an additional 213,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Perrigo by 94.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 151,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after buying an additional 73,457 shares in the last quarter. 95.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.