Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Position in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its position in Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,531 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,130 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Perrigo worth $2,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PRGO. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Perrigo in the third quarter worth $3,717,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Perrigo during the third quarter valued at $7,111,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in Perrigo by 44.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after acquiring an additional 37,268 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Perrigo by 65.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 541,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,190,000 after acquiring an additional 213,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Perrigo by 94.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 151,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 73,457 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Perrigo

In related news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the 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 directly owns 5,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,912.43. This represents a 76.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler cut Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Argus cut Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

Perrigo Stock Performance

NYSE:PRGO opened at $25.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Perrigo Company plc has a 12-month low of $23.14 and a 12-month high of $33.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.55 and a beta of 0.54.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is presently -94.02%.

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.