Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 152,156 Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 856,480 shares of the company’s stock after selling 152,156 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Perrigo were worth $22,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in Perrigo by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 3,573,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,879,000 after buying an additional 139,650 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Perrigo by 229.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,697,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,145 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT increased its stake in Perrigo by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,668,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,614,000 after acquiring an additional 9,868 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Perrigo by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,359,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,894,000 after purchasing an additional 106,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in Perrigo by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,525,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,213,000 after purchasing an additional 472,958 shares during the period. 95.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Perrigo Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRGO opened at $25.81 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.46 and a 200-day moving average of $26.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of -22.06 and a beta of 0.49. 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 twelve month low of $23.14 and a twelve month high of $33.46.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -92.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total transaction 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 represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.