JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 386,108 Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,759,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 386,108 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $62,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 367.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,342,000 after purchasing an additional 160,191 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 20.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,990 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,490,000 after buying an additional 13,489 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the first quarter worth $264,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Royalty Pharma by 41.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 13,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 4.3% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 39,247 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on RPRX. Weiss Ratings upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 114,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total value of $4,924,629.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 23,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,026,960.48. The trade was a 82.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 23,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.15, for a total value of $913,526.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 160,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,264,000. This trade represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 965,020 shares of company stock worth $38,670,657 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX opened at $45.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.68. Royalty Pharma PLC has a one year low of $29.66 and a one year high of $46.14.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is presently 69.63%.

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.