Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating 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 published on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Perrigo from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Perrigo Stock Performance

Perrigo stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.85. 1,099,976 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,503,895. 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 12-month low of $20.51 and a 12-month high of $30.93. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $24.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.80. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.99 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Perrigo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio is currently -200.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perrigo

In other news, CFO Eduardo Guarita Bezerra purchased 3,000 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.74 per share, with a total value of $68,220.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Abigail Lennox bought 1,255 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.41 per share, with a total value of $28,124.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,124.55. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 10,118 shares of company stock valued at $232,699. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Perrigo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Perrigo by 41.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,227,487 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 9.5% during 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Perrigo by 2.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,135,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,085,000 after purchasing an additional 146,211 shares in the last quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Perrigo by 34.7% during the 2nd 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 grew its position in Perrigo by 23.1% during 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 buying an additional 616,387 shares during the period. 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.