Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $24.13, but opened at $27.65. Perrigo shares last traded at $28.44, with a volume of 921,628 shares traded.

The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 4.00%. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is -92.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRGO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lowered Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Argus lowered Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Perrigo news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total value of $497,495.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,912.43. This trade represents a 76.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perrigo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRGO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Perrigo by 6,828.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,845,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,710,000 after purchasing an additional 7,732,309 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Perrigo by 229.2% in 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 66,795.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,840,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837,538 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the fourth quarter worth $36,614,000. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,820,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,502,000 after purchasing an additional 941,667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Stock Up 20.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of -24.76 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.20.

Perrigo Company Profile

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.