Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 15,767 Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 137,944 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,767 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Perrigo were worth $3,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Perrigo by 93.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Perrigo by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Perrigo by 97.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Perrigo in the 4th quarter worth $149,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Perrigo Price Performance

NYSE:PRGO opened at $24.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.06. Perrigo Company plc has a 52 week low of $23.14 and a 52 week high of $33.46. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of -21.02 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is currently -92.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perrigo

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 transaction of $214,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,666 shares in the company, valued at $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.