Brokerages Set Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Price Target at $34.00

Shares of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on PRGO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Perrigo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Perrigo from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Perrigo in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Perrigo from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Geoffrey M. Parker acquired 4,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.97 per share, for a total transaction of $100,493.75. Following the purchase, the director owned 33,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,602.39. This represents a 15.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Abigail Lennox bought 1,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.41 per share, for a total transaction of $28,124.55. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 1,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,124.55. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 10,118 shares of company stock valued at $232,699. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Perrigo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Perrigo by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,894,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,128,000 after acquiring an additional 11,256 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Perrigo by 0.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 313,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,800,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the first quarter worth about $1,619,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Perrigo by 91.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Finally, Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,526,000. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE PRGO opened at $22.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of -38.83 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.38. Perrigo has a 12-month low of $20.51 and a 12-month high of $30.93.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 9.09% and a negative net margin of 1.86%.Perrigo’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is currently -200.00%.

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.