Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $78.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Royalty Pharma traded as high as $68.20 and last traded at $68.4250, with a volume of 5,165 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.56.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Royalty Pharma from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $63.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total transaction of $5,853,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 270,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,826,570.53. This trade represents a 27.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 4,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $235,594.60. 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 have sold a total of 208,252 shares of company stock valued at $12,324,407 in the last ninety days. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 89.2% in the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 876 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 34.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Royalty Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $38.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.08, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.81.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $674.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $758.93 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2350 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.33%.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc is a biopharmaceutical royalty company that provides funding to companies and inventors in exchange for royalty interests in medicines. It acquires existing royalties and helps finance drug development and commercialization through royalty-based transactions and other forms of funding.

The company’s portfolio includes royalty interests in medicines across a range of therapeutic areas, spanning both approved treatments and products in development. Royalty Pharma generally earns revenue when these medicines are sold; it does not operate as a conventional drug manufacturer or commercialize medicines itself.

Founded in 1996 by Pablo Legorreta, the company became publicly listed in 2020.