Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Lowers Holdings in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its stake in shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 74.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 205,442 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.05% of Perrigo worth $1,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Perrigo during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Perrigo by 93.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Perrigo by 97.8% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Perrigo in the 4th quarter valued at about $149,000. 95.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Perrigo Trading Down 5.7 %

NYSE:PRGO opened at $24.39 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.85 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 12-month low of $23.14 and a 12-month high of $33.46.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -92.80%.

Insider Activity at Perrigo

In other Perrigo news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.