Marshall Wace LLP Acquires 139,080 Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Free Report) by 500.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,863 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 139,080 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.12% of Perrigo worth $4,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PRGO. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Perrigo in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,717,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Perrigo by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,160,000 after acquiring an additional 37,268 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Perrigo by 65.1% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the third quarter worth $909,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Perrigo in the 4th quarter worth $7,989,000. 95.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Perrigo news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total value of $214,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $923,795.04. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Perrigo Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PRGO traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.73. 511,600 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,521,477. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $26.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.01 and a beta of 0.49. Perrigo Company plc has a 52-week low of $23.14 and a 52-week high of $33.46.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. This is a boost from Perrigo's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Perrigo's payout ratio is currently -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.