Short Interest in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Declines By 15.1%

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a drop of 15.1% from the February 13th total of 5,380,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PRGO shares. Argus cut Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler cut Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Insider Activity at Perrigo

In other Perrigo news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total transaction of $214,032.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perrigo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Perrigo by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 64,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:PRGO opened at $27.86 on Thursday. Perrigo has a fifty-two week low of $23.14 and a fifty-two week high of $33.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of -23.81 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.17.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -92.80%.

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.