Wall Street Zen Downgrades Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) to Buy

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.86.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX opened at $56.77 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.54. Royalty Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $34.08 and a fifty-two week high of $60.44. The company has a market capitalization of $32.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%.The firm had revenue of $674.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $758.93 million. Analysts expect that Royalty Pharma will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total transaction of $8,160,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 559,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,431,305.60. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $161,385.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 191,803 shares in the company, valued at $10,165,559. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 393,009 shares of company stock worth $21,601,827 over the last three months. Company insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Royalty Pharma by 173.4% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 876 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc is a specialty finance company that acquires biopharmaceutical royalty interests and provides non-dilutive financing to drug developers and rights holders. The firm purchases future royalty streams, milestone-contingent payments and other revenue rights linked to approved and late-stage pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. By paying upfront consideration for these rights, Royalty Pharma seeks to generate long-term cash flows tied to the commercial performance of a diversified portfolio of medicines.

The company’s transaction structures include outright royalty purchases, structured financings and milestone arrangements tailored to the needs of innovator companies, academic institutions and investors.