Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $3.36 Million Holdings in Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 131,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 37,136 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $3,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 11,027,370 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $311,964,000 after purchasing an additional 213,900 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 362.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,203 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 41.1% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 26,847 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 7,817 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 171.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 101,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,777,000 after buying an additional 64,057 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Royalty Pharma stock opened at $33.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.71 and a 200-day moving average of $28.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Royalty Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $24.05 and a 1 year high of $34.20.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.16. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 37.94% and a return on equity of 24.40%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma plc will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is 60.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RPRX. TD Cowen raised Royalty Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.60.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc operates as a buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a funder of innovations in the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States. It is also involved in the identification, evaluation, and acquisition of royalties on various biopharmaceutical therapies. In addition, the company collaborates with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and not-for-profits, small and mid-cap biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical companies.