Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on RPRX. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Royalty Pharma in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners set a $45.00 target price on Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, December 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX opened at $39.55 on Friday. Royalty Pharma has a twelve month low of $29.66 and a twelve month high of $41.70. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.46. The company has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This is an increase from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP George W. Lloyd sold 132,426 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total value of $5,077,212.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 69,594 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 54,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,152,068. This represents a 55.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 936,093 shares of company stock valued at $36,499,945. 18.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 603.9% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 655,995 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,701,000 after buying an additional 562,799 shares during the period. Watchtower Advisors LP acquired a new position in Royalty Pharma during the 2nd quarter worth $3,603,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the third quarter worth $1,702,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the third quarter worth $933,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 7,752.8% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 34,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 33,647 shares during the period. 54.35% of the stock is 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.