Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Position in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,405,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,649 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $49,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 868.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 44.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 16.9% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,499 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.09, for a total value of $821,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total value of $1,627,522.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 45,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,140,699.58. This trade represents a 43.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 737,078 shares of company stock worth $29,862,002 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on RPRX. Leerink Partners set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.67.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of RPRX stock opened at $46.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.43. Royalty Pharma PLC has a fifty-two week low of $29.66 and a fifty-two week high of $47.86.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.13. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 28.21%. The company had revenue of $621.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.97 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.63%.

Royalty Pharma 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.