Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $24.13, but opened at $27.65. Perrigo shares last traded at $28.44, with a volume of 921,628 shares.

The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Perrigo had a positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 3.64%.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is -92.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus lowered Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler downgraded Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Perrigo news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 5,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,912.43. This trade represents a 76.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Perrigo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Perrigo by 1,942.0% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Perrigo by 93.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of Perrigo by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Perrigo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Perrigo Trading Up 20.1 %

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 company has a 50 day moving average of $24.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of -24.76 and a beta of 0.54.

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.