California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 134,831 Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 907,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 134,831 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $43,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of RPRX. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 58.8% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,858 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. increased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 15.5% in the first quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 32,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 4,356 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 34.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 27,228 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,329,000 after buying an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the first quarter valued at $298,000. Institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In other news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $3,476,258.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total value of $5,652,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 459,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,965,231.48. This represents a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 427,800 shares of company stock worth $23,333,723. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

Royalty Pharma stock opened at $57.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market cap of $32.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.43. Royalty Pharma PLC has a fifty-two week low of $34.08 and a fifty-two week high of $59.44.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its 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. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 33.88% and a return on equity of 29.25%. The company had revenue of $630.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.69 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.18 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $56.57.

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.