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

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 23.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 866,157 shares of the company’s stock after selling 261,944 shares during the quarter. Perrigo accounts for about 1.2% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Perrigo were worth $22,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PRGO. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Perrigo by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in Perrigo by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Perrigo by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 64,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRGO opened at $27.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.71 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 Company plc has a fifty-two week low of $23.14 and a fifty-two week high of $33.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.16.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. Analysts expect that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is presently -92.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 33,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PRGO. Argus cut Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research report 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Perrigo 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.