GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Makes New $386,000 Investment in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. bought a new stake in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,717,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Perrigo by 44.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,160,000 after acquiring an additional 37,268 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Perrigo by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 541,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,190,000 after acquiring an additional 213,221 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Perrigo during the 3rd quarter worth $909,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Perrigo in the 4th quarter worth about $7,989,000. 95.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PRGO shares. Argus downgraded Perrigo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Perrigo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded Perrigo from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.00.

Perrigo Stock Performance

PRGO traded down $0.71 on Monday, hitting $24.61. 172,041 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,521,312. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.06. Perrigo Company plc has a twelve month low of $23.14 and a twelve month high of $33.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of -21.03 and a beta of 0.49.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. This is a positive change from Perrigo's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio is currently -92.80%.

Insider Activity at Perrigo

In related news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total value of $214,032.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,666 shares in the company, valued at $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.