Perrigo Company plc $PRGO Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Perrigo Company plc by 9.3%, now holding approximately $4.99 million worth of shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates and Dimensional Fund Advisors, significantly increased their positions in Perrigo during the same quarter, indicating a strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Perrigo recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.57, missing analysts' consensus estimate, contributing to a quarterly revenue decline of 0.9% compared to the previous year.

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 178,722 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,404 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Perrigo worth $4,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PRGO. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $386,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Perrigo by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Perrigo by 687.2% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 155,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,986,000 after acquiring an additional 135,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Perrigo by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,331,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,244,000 after acquiring an additional 188,282 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Perrigo

In other news, EVP Abigail Lennox acquired 1,255 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.41 per share, with a total value of $28,124.55. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president owned 1,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,124.55. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert Willis acquired 1,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.10 per share, with a total value of $35,860.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 41,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,010,729.90. This represents a 3.68% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 10,118 shares of company stock valued at $232,699. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Perrigo from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Perrigo from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Perrigo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.00.

Perrigo Trading Down 1.8%

PRGO stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.36. 1,529,552 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,488,145. Perrigo Company plc has a 1-year low of $21.03 and a 1-year high of $30.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of -36.83 and a beta of 0.48.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.02). Perrigo had a negative net margin of 1.86% and a positive return on equity of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Perrigo's payout ratio is presently -200.00%.

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.