R Squared Ltd Acquires New Holdings in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,351 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. Barton Investment Management acquired a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the first quarter valued at $905,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 172,418 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,662,000 after buying an additional 24,048 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in Royalty Pharma during the 4th quarter worth about $4,923,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,875,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 812,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,604,000 after buying an additional 36,664 shares during the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royalty Pharma Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:RPRX traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.81. The company had a trading volume of 661,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,676,533. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.43. The company has a market capitalization of $33.29 billion, a PE ratio of 39.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Royalty Pharma PLC has a one year low of $34.08 and a one year high of $58.18.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.69 million. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 33.88% and a return on equity of 29.25%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.95%.

Insider Activity at Royalty Pharma

In other news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.06, for a total value of $726,073.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,881 shares in the company, valued at $1,691,605.86. This trade represents a 30.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $161,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 191,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,165,559. The trade was a 1.56% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 427,800 shares of company stock worth $23,333,723 over the last three months. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RPRX. Weiss Ratings downgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.71.

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.