Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $56.29 and last traded at $56.3110, with a volume of 2862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RPRX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. 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, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Royalty Pharma has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.28. The firm has a market cap of $32.03 billion, a PE ratio of 37.84, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.43.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.08. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%.The business had revenue of $630.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $881.69 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is 63.95%.

Insider Activity at Royalty Pharma

In related news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $3,476,258.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the company’s 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 completion of 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 position. 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 199,185 shares of company stock valued at $10,082,926 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 172,418 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,662,000 after buying an additional 24,048 shares in the last quarter. Regal Partners Ltd boosted its position in Royalty Pharma by 6.7% during the third quarter. Regal Partners Ltd now owns 1,435,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,631,000 after acquiring an additional 89,930 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 812,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,604,000 after acquiring an additional 36,664 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at $2,875,000. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 4th quarter worth $4,923,000. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.