Saybrook Capital NC Invests $496,000 in Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX)

Saybrook Capital NC acquired a new position in Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 17,675 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 1.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 48,132,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,306,319,000 after buying an additional 702,754 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,437,354 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,070,330,000 after purchasing an additional 589,558 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 2.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,848,842 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $715,154,000 after purchasing an additional 435,591 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 13.8% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 9,840,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $267,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 1.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,887,567 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $241,209,000 after purchasing an additional 151,396 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Royalty Pharma from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Royalty Pharma from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Royalty Pharma from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

RPRX stock traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.77. The stock had a trading volume of 524,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,648,442. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.45. Royalty Pharma plc has a 52 week low of $25.92 and a 52 week high of $36.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.51. The company has a current ratio of 7.90, a quick ratio of 7.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $736.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $702.90 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 26.93% and a net margin of 48.22%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma plc will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc operates as a buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a funder of innovations in the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States. It is also involved in the identification, evaluation, and acquisition of royalties on various biopharmaceutical therapies. In addition, the company collaborates with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and not-for-profits, small and mid-cap biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical companies.