Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Upgraded to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Perrigo Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE PRGO traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.05. 39,983 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,573,754. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.12 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.19. Perrigo has a twelve month low of $23.14 and a twelve month high of $30.93.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Perrigo's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Perrigo will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -88.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Perrigo news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction on 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 $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perrigo

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Perrigo by 41.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,073,026 shares of the company's stock worth $310,488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227,487 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Perrigo by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,135,741 shares of the company's stock worth $200,085,000 after buying an additional 146,211 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in Perrigo by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 4,557,844 shares of the company's stock worth $117,182,000 after buying an additional 50,728 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in Perrigo by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 3,573,651 shares of the company's stock worth $91,879,000 after buying an additional 139,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT grew its position in shares of Perrigo by 23.1% in the first quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 3,285,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,116,000 after purchasing an additional 616,387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.91% of the company's stock.

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.