Vestal Point Capital LP Grows Stock Holdings in Perrigo Company plc $PRGO

Key Points

• Vestal Point Capital LP increased its stake in Perrigo Company plc by 56.7% in Q1, owning approximately 587,649 shares worth about $16.5 million.
• Perrigo reported a Q2 EPS of $0.57, missing estimates, with revenues of $1.06 billion, down 0.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 to be paid on September 16, representing an annualized yield of 4.9%.

Vestal Point Capital LP raised its stake in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Free Report) by 56.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 587,649 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 212,649 shares during the quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP owned approximately 0.43% of Perrigo worth $16,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PRGO. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 1.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 32,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 15,984 shares of the company's stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Perrigo by 3.8% in the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Perrigo by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,337 shares of the company's stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Perrigo by 62.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Perrigo Stock Down 2.7%

Perrigo stock traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.65. 3,143,873 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,438,420. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Perrigo Company plc has a twelve month low of $21.03 and a twelve month high of $30.93. The company has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.05 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.49 and a 200-day moving average of $26.15.

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). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 9.09% and a negative net margin of 1.86%.The firm's revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio is presently -200.00%.

Insider Activity at Perrigo

In other news, Director Geoffrey M. Parker purchased 4,375 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.97 per share, for a total transaction of $100,493.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 33,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at $764,602.39. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert Willis purchased 1,488 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.10 per share, for a total transaction of $35,860.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president owned 41,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,010,729.90. This represents a 3.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 8,863 shares of company stock valued at $204,575 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.