Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $78.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Royalty Pharma traded as high as $68.20 and last traded at $68.4250, with a volume of 5,165 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $67.56.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 4,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $235,594.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total transaction of $5,853,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 270,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,826,570.53. The trade was a 27.00% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 208,252 shares of company stock worth $12,324,407. 18.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RPRX. Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,762,000. Monetta Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Royalty Pharma in the second quarter worth $1,682,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 121.2% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 81,697 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,564,000 after buying an additional 44,764 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 2,276,570 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $109,207,000 after acquiring an additional 17,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,761,000. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royalty Pharma Stock Down 0.4%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.81. The company has a market capitalization of $38.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.08, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.80.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%. The company had revenue of $674.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $758.93 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.34 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, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.2350 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.33%.

Royalty Pharma Company Profile

Royalty Pharma plc is a biopharmaceutical royalty company that provides funding to companies and inventors in exchange for royalty interests in medicines. It acquires existing royalties and helps finance drug development and commercialization through royalty-based transactions and other forms of funding.

The company’s portfolio includes royalty interests in medicines across a range of therapeutic areas, spanning both approved treatments and products in development. Royalty Pharma generally earns revenue when these medicines are sold; it does not operate as a conventional drug manufacturer or commercialize medicines itself.

Founded in 1996 by Pablo Legorreta, the company became publicly listed in 2020.