Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $41.72 and last traded at $41.68, with a volume of 3464713 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RPRX. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Royalty Pharma Stock Up 2.0%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $39.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Royalty Pharma news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 69,594 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.30, for a total transaction of $2,735,044.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,152,068. This represents a 55.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP George W. Lloyd sold 132,426 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total transaction of $5,077,212.84. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,045,675 shares of company stock worth $40,833,596. 18.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 868.1% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the second quarter worth $32,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Royalty Pharma by 31.9% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.