Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) Holdings Lowered by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 105,182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,109 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Perrigo were worth $2,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Perrigo by 1,942.0% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Perrigo by 93.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Perrigo by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 2,084 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Perrigo during the fourth quarter worth about $149,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Perrigo by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 8,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ronald Craig Janish sold 7,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.44, for a total transaction of $214,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $923,795.04. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Perrigo Stock Up 0.7 %

PRGO stock opened at $27.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.08 and a beta of 0.45. Perrigo Company plc has a 52-week low of $23.14 and a 52-week high of $31.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.11.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Perrigo Company plc will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Perrigo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is -88.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRGO has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus cut Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Perrigo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Perrigo 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.