California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 241,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,869 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Perrigo were worth $6,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Perrigo during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 93.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Perrigo by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Perrigo by 97.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Perrigo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $149,000. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of Perrigo 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 directly owns 33,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $923,795.04. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Perrigo Stock Performance

PRGO stock opened at $26.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Perrigo Company plc has a 1 year low of $23.14 and a 1 year high of $33.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.13.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost 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.