Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday.

PRGO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler cut Perrigo from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.00.

Perrigo Price Performance

Shares of Perrigo stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.37. 1,875,666 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,321,678. The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.01 and a 200 day moving average of $26.28. Perrigo has a fifty-two week low of $23.14 and a fifty-two week high of $33.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of -21.68 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Perrigo's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Perrigo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -94.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total transaction of $497,495.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $152,912.43. This represents a 76.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Perrigo

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRGO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Perrigo by 6,828.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,845,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,710,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732,309 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 valued at $70,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,145 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Perrigo by 66,795.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,840,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,538 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Perrigo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,614,000. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Perrigo by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,820,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,502,000 after acquiring an additional 941,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.91% of the company's stock.

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.