Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its stake in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 21.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 228,996 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 63,092 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $10,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RPRX. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Royalty Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $56.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 459,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,965,231.48. The trade was a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total transaction of $508,452.12. 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 393,009 shares of company stock valued at $21,601,827 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $59.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.11 and a 200-day moving average of $49.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.99 billion, a PE ratio of 40.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.43. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 52 week low of $34.08 and a 52 week high of $60.44.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $881.69 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%. Analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.95%.

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.