Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,790,000 shares, a decrease of 17.1% from the February 28th total of 4,570,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Perrigo Stock Performance

NYSE PRGO traded down $0.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $27.13. 831,869 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,495,673. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.19 and a beta of 0.48. Perrigo has a 12-month low of $23.14 and a 12-month high of $33.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.34 and a 200-day moving average of $26.17.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Perrigo’s payout ratio is presently -92.80%.

Insider Transactions at Perrigo

In related news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,717,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Perrigo by 44.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after purchasing an additional 37,268 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Perrigo by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 541,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,190,000 after buying an additional 213,221 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 94.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 151,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after buying an additional 73,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the 3rd quarter valued at $909,000. 95.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.