100,000 Shares in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX Bought by Watchtower Advisors LP

Watchtower Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 100,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,603,000. Royalty Pharma comprises 2.1% of Watchtower Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 603.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 655,995 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,701,000 after purchasing an additional 562,799 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 55.1% during the second quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 34,263 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 12,171 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 22.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 52,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after buying an additional 9,718 shares during the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 201.5% in the first quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 31,756 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 21,225 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 126.5% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,470,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380,115 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $39.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $41.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.22.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $609.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $765.01 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 26.36% and a net margin of 32.51%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on RPRX. Weiss Ratings downgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP George W. Lloyd sold 132,426 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total transaction of $5,077,212.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 69,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.55, for a total value of $2,682,386.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,435.50. The trade was a 57.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 344,196 shares of company stock valued at $13,344,707 in the last three months. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.