Perrigo Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:PRGO)

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 11,385 call options on the company. This is an increase of 850% compared to the average daily volume of 1,198 call options.

Insider Transactions at Perrigo

In related news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.27, for a total transaction of $497,495.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,409 shares in the company, valued at $152,912.43. This trade represents a 76.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Perrigo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Perrigo by 9.7% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 5,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Perrigo by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Perrigo by 3.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. 95.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Perrigo Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:PRGO traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.88. 487,726 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,432,092. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.42 and a beta of 0.53. Perrigo has a twelve month low of $23.14 and a twelve month high of $33.96. 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 (NYSE:PRGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Perrigo will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Perrigo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.276 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. Perrigo’s payout ratio is currently -94.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRGO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus downgraded shares of Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Perrigo in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler downgraded Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $50.00) on shares of Perrigo in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Perrigo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.00.

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.