Perrigo Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PRGO)

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 11,734 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 637% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,593 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRGO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus downgraded shares of Perrigo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler cut shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Perrigo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Perrigo currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.00.

Perrigo Stock Performance

NYSE PRGO traded up $0.37 on Tuesday, hitting $29.37. 3,048,132 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,479,157. The business's 50 day moving average price is $25.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.10 and a beta of 0.54. Perrigo has a 52-week low of $23.14 and a 52-week high of $33.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. Equities analysts expect that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from Perrigo's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Perrigo's payout ratio is -92.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Perrigo news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total value of $497,495.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $152,912.43. This trade represents a 76.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the fourth quarter worth about $383,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its position in shares of Perrigo by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 38,424 shares of the company's stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 4,105 shares in the last quarter. Novem Group purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the fourth quarter worth $2,601,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 480,961 shares of the company's stock worth $12,366,000 after buying an additional 61,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the fourth quarter worth $242,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.