Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Perrigo Company plc has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from five research firms, with an average 12-month price objective of $33.00.
• Insider buying activity includes CFO Eduardo Guarita Bezerra purchasing 3,000 shares and Director Geoffrey M. Parker acquiring 4,375 shares, indicating confidence in the company's future performance.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.9%, despite a significant payout ratio of -200.00%.

Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on PRGO. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Perrigo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Perrigo from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Perrigo from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th.

Perrigo Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE PRGO traded down $0.14 on Monday, reaching $23.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,286,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,965,857. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.25 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.32. Perrigo has a 1-year low of $21.03 and a 1-year high of $30.93. The company's fifty day moving average is $25.63 and its 200-day moving average is $26.17.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.57 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio is currently -200.00%.

Insider Transactions at Perrigo

In other Perrigo news, Director Geoffrey M. Parker purchased 4,375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.97 per share, with a total value of $100,493.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,287 shares in the company, valued at $764,602.39. This represents a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Willis acquired 1,488 shares of the company'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 purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 41,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,010,729.90. This trade represents a 3.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 8,863 shares of company stock worth $204,575 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Perrigo

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Perrigo by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,073,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $310,488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227,487 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Perrigo by 9.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,340,323 shares of the company's stock worth $196,134,000 after acquiring an additional 637,678 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Perrigo by 2.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,135,741 shares of the company's stock worth $200,085,000 after acquiring an additional 146,211 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in Perrigo by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 4,557,844 shares of the company's stock worth $117,182,000 after acquiring an additional 50,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Perrigo by 34.7% during the second quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,817,621 shares of the company's stock worth $102,007,000 after acquiring an additional 983,727 shares during the last quarter. 95.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.