Ion Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 941,667 Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Ion Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Free Report) by 50.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,820,000 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 941,667 shares during the quarter. Perrigo comprises approximately 4.2% of Ion Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Ion Asset Management Ltd. owned about 2.07% of Perrigo worth $72,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Perrigo by 1,942.0% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Perrigo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Perrigo by 93.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in Perrigo by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Perrigo by 97.8% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.91% of the company's stock.

Perrigo Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRGO traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $25.29. 829,093 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,520,892. Perrigo Company plc has a 12 month low of $23.14 and a 12 month high of $33.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.56. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $26.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of -21.61 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio is -92.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PRGO. Piper Sandler downgraded 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. StockNews.com cut Perrigo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Perrigo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perrigo

In other Perrigo news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total value of $214,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $923,795.04. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

About Perrigo

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.