Insider Selling: Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Director Sells 17,598 Shares of Stock

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total value of $497,495.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,912.43. This represents a 76.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Perrigo Price Performance

Shares of PRGO opened at $27.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.60 and a beta of 0.52. Perrigo Company plc has a 52 week low of $23.89 and a 52 week high of $34.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.47 and a 200-day moving average of $26.97.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Perrigo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.276 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -94.02%.

Institutional Trading of Perrigo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Perrigo by 229.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,697,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,145 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Perrigo by 66,795.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,840,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,271,000 after buying an additional 1,837,538 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Perrigo by 83.2% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,940,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,821,000 after acquiring an additional 881,191 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Perrigo by 675.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 970,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,926,000 after acquiring an additional 845,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Perrigo by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,482,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,117,000 after acquiring an additional 465,161 shares during the period. 95.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PRGO. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Perrigo in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Perrigo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Perrigo in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

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.