Swiss National Bank Acquires 1,700 Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 268,300 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Perrigo were worth $6,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRGO. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Perrigo in the 3rd quarter worth $3,717,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Perrigo by 44.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,160,000 after acquiring an additional 37,268 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 213,221 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Perrigo by 94.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 151,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,974,000 after buying an additional 73,457 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the 3rd quarter valued at $909,000. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Perrigo Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRGO opened at $27.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.88 and a beta of 0.48. Perrigo Company plc has a 12 month low of $23.14 and a 12 month high of $33.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.16. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. As a group, analysts predict that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is currently -92.80%.

Insider Transactions at Perrigo

In other 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 transaction of $214,032.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $923,795.04. This represents a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.