Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

RPRX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.86.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of RPRX opened at $61.31 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.81. The company has a market capitalization of $35.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.43. Royalty Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $34.08 and a fifty-two week high of $62.13. 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 data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%.The business had revenue of $674.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $758.93 million. Research analysts predict that Royalty Pharma will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is currently 64.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $3,476,258.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher Hite sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total value of $8,160,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 559,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,431,305.60. This trade represents a 21.14% 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 sold a total of 462,596 shares of company stock worth $25,989,538 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 55,274,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,135,790,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110,115 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,104,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,201,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,891,615 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,649,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $411,502,000 after purchasing an additional 376,888 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,719,843 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $297,465,000 after purchasing an additional 102,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,106,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $197,331,000 after purchasing an additional 449,498 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Company Profile

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.