Perrigo Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PRGO)

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 11,734 call options on the company. This is an increase of 637% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,593 call options.

Perrigo Stock Performance

Shares of PRGO opened at $28.98 on Friday. Perrigo has a 1 year low of $23.14 and a 1 year high of $33.46. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $24.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of -24.76 and a beta of 0.54.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Perrigo will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Perrigo Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a boost from Perrigo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Perrigo’s dividend payout ratio is presently -99.15%.

Insider Activity at Perrigo

In other news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 17,598 shares of the company’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 value 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 $152,912.43. This represents a 76.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRGO. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Perrigo by 1,942.0% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Perrigo during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Perrigo by 93.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Perrigo by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Perrigo during the third quarter valued at about $56,000. 95.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRGO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler downgraded Perrigo from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Argus lowered shares of Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Perrigo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

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.