Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Perrigo from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th.

Perrigo Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PRGO stock opened at $31.40 on Wednesday. Perrigo has a 12-month low of $25.77 and a 12-month high of $40.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $30.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -314.00 and a beta of 0.64.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.34% and a negative net margin of 0.27%. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Perrigo will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.276 dividend. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Perrigo’s payout ratio is presently -1,100.00%.

Insider Activity at Perrigo

In other news, EVP Alison Ives purchased 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.26 per share, for a total transaction of $67,877.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 16,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $439,485.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Perrigo news, EVP Alison Ives acquired 2,490 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.26 per share, with a total value of $67,877.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $439,485.72. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert Willis acquired 6,000 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.87 per share, with a total value of $155,220.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,466.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 17,990 shares of company stock worth $475,227. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perrigo

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRGO. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Perrigo during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Perrigo during the first quarter worth $31,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Perrigo by 1,694.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Perrigo during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Perrigo by 132.3% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. 95.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.