Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Perrigo from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, indicating a shift in sentiment towards the stock.
• Perrigo's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.57, missing estimates by $0.02, with revenue down 0.9% year-over-year to $1.06 billion.
• Institutional investors have increased their holdings in Perrigo, with Price T Rowe Associates raising its stake by 41.1% in the first quarter.

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

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Perrigo from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Perrigo from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Perrigo Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRGO traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.10. 59,342 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,503,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $24.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.38 and a beta of 0.48. Perrigo has a twelve month low of $20.51 and a twelve month high of $30.93.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Perrigo will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio is currently -200.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Abigail Lennox bought 1,255 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.41 per share, with a total value of $28,124.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,124.55. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Eduardo Guarita Bezerra bought 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.74 per share, with a total value of $68,220.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 48,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,113,100.26. The trade was a 6.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 10,118 shares of company stock worth $232,699 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $310,488,000 after buying an additional 3,227,487 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Perrigo by 9.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,340,323 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,134,000 after acquiring an additional 637,678 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Perrigo by 2.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,135,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,085,000 after acquiring an additional 146,211 shares during the period. Ion Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Perrigo by 34.7% in the second quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,817,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,007,000 after acquiring an additional 983,727 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 616,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.