Short Interest in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Decreases By 19.1%

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) saw a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,020,000 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the November 15th total of 4,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PRGO. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Perrigo in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Perrigo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Perrigo in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Perrigo has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $152,912.43. This trade represents a 76.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Perrigo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Perrigo in the third quarter worth $7,111,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Perrigo by 675.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 970,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,926,000 after buying an additional 845,470 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Perrigo by 94.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 151,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 73,457 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Perrigo by 66,795.3% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 3.8% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 655,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,845,000 after acquiring an additional 23,835 shares during the last quarter. 95.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Perrigo Price Performance

Shares of PRGO stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 966,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,601,242. 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 moving average is $26.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.97. Perrigo has a 1-year low of $23.89 and a 1-year high of $34.60. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.46 and a beta of 0.52.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.81. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 3.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Perrigo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.276 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -94.02%.

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.