Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Perrigo in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Perrigo in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Perrigo from $40.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Perrigo from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.50.

Perrigo Price Performance

Shares of PRGO opened at $14.40 on Friday. Perrigo has a one year low of $14.17 and a one year high of $30.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.34 and its 200-day moving average is $24.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.82 and a beta of 0.42.

Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Perrigo had a negative net margin of 1.86% and a positive return on equity of 9.09%. Perrigo’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. Perrigo has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.700-2.80 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Perrigo will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Perrigo news, Director Geoffrey M. Parker purchased 4,375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.97 per share, with a total value of $100,493.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,602.39. This represents a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Eduardo Guarita Bezerra acquired 3,000 shares of Perrigo stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.74 per share, with a total value of $68,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 48,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,113,100.26. This represents a 6.53% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 10,118 shares of company stock worth $232,699 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perrigo

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PRGO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Perrigo by 41.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,073,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227,487 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Perrigo by 5,198.0% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,052,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013,856 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Perrigo during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,755,000. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Perrigo by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 3,149,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Perrigo by 34.7% in the second quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,817,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,007,000 after purchasing an additional 983,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.91% of the company’s stock.

About Perrigo

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.