Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Perrigo Company plc $PRGO

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its shareholding in Perrigo Company plc by 55.5%, now holding 12,163 shares worth approximately $341,000, as revealed in its recent SEC filing.
• In the first quarter, several institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates Inc. and Bahl & Gaynor Inc., significantly increased their stakes in Perrigo by over 40%.
• Perrigo announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, with an annualized yield of 5.2%, to be paid on September 16th to shareholders of record as of August 29th.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Free Report) by 55.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,163 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,170 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Perrigo were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Perrigo in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 176.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 138.3% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,218 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Perrigo by 110.4% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. 95.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Perrigo from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Perrigo from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Perrigo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.00.

Perrigo Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of PRGO traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,920,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,061. Perrigo Company plc has a 1 year low of $21.03 and a 1 year high of $30.93. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of -36.43 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock's 50 day moving average is $24.67 and its 200 day moving average is $25.96.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 positive return on equity of 9.09% and a negative net margin of 1.86%.The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio is presently -200.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Perrigo news, EVP Robert Willis purchased 1,488 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.10 per share, for a total transaction of $35,860.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 41,939 shares in the company, valued at $1,010,729.90. This represents a 3.68% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eduardo Guarita Bezerra purchased 3,000 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.74 per share, for a total transaction of $68,220.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 48,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,100.26. This trade represents a 6.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 10,118 shares of company stock valued at $232,699. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.