Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Sells 38,352 Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,883,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,352 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.38% of Perrigo worth $48,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Perrigo in the fourth 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 worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings 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 worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 25.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Stock Performance

Shares of PRGO stock opened at $26.88 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.22. Perrigo Company plc has a one year low of $23.14 and a one year high of $33.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of -22.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 (NYSE:PRGO) last announced 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. As a group, research 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Perrigo’s payout ratio is -92.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Perrigo

In other Perrigo news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total value of $214,032.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $923,795.04. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.