Wall Street Zen Upgrades Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) to Buy

Key Points

• Perrigo's stock rating has been upgraded from "hold" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, reflecting positive sentiment around the company's performance.
• The consensus target price for Perrigo is currently set at $33.00, with a mix of ratings from various brokerages, including three "hold" and three "buy" ratings.
• After reporting earnings that missed estimates, Perrigo's stock fell 1.3%, closing at $22.73 as of the last trading session.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Perrigo from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Perrigo from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Perrigo has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.00.

Perrigo Price Performance

Shares of PRGO stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 833,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,480,775. Perrigo has a fifty-two week low of $21.03 and a fifty-two week high of $30.93. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $26.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.43 and a beta of 0.47.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 1.86% and a positive return on equity of 9.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Perrigo

In other news, Director Geoffrey M. Parker bought 4,375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $764,602.39. This represents a 15.13% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Eduardo Guarita Bezerra acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.74 per share, with a total value of $68,220.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 48,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,100.26. The trade was a 6.53% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Perrigo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRGO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Perrigo by 439.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 965 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Perrigo by 237.8% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 54.6% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,201 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Perrigo by 101.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Perrigo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.91% 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.