Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.7143.

Several research analysts have issued reports on RPRX shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

NASDAQ RPRX remained flat at $57.77 on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,244,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,604,242. Royalty Pharma has a 52-week low of $34.08 and a 52-week high of $57.80. The company has a market capitalization of $33.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $881.69 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.95%.

Insider Activity at Royalty Pharma

In other news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total transaction of $5,652,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 459,399 shares in the company, valued at $25,965,231.48. The trade was a 17.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 9,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total transaction of $508,452.12. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 427,800 shares of company stock worth $23,333,723 in the last quarter. 18.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank increased its position in Royalty Pharma by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 694,925 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,964,000 after purchasing an additional 35,547 shares during the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,279,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 3.4% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 7,812 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC increased its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 597.4% in the first quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 83,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,014,000 after buying an additional 71,688 shares during the last quarter. 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.