Short Interest in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Declines By 15.1%

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a drop of 15.1% from the February 13th total of 5,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perrigo

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRGO. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Perrigo by 1,942.0% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 93.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted 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 last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Perrigo by 97.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Perrigo Stock Performance

NYSE:PRGO traded down $0.55 on Friday, reaching $27.95. 2,015,681 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,435,769. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.88 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.16. Perrigo has a 52 week low of $23.14 and a 52 week high of $33.46.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for 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, sell-side analysts predict that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Perrigo's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -92.80%.

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.