Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.8571.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RPRX. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total transaction of $8,160,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 559,399 shares in the company, valued at $30,431,305.60. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total value 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 462,596 shares of company stock worth $25,989,538. Insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 5,065.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,204,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,198,192,000 after acquiring an additional 38,445,382 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Royalty Pharma by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 55,274,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,135,790,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110,115 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,104,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,201,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,891,615 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at about $131,923,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 737.3% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,481,771 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $87,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

Royalty Pharma stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $61.09. The stock had a trading volume of 235,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,491,379. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Royalty Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $34.08 and a fifty-two week high of $62.13. The company has a market cap of $35.13 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.43.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $674.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.93 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is 64.83%.

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.