Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Shares Up 3.3% – Still a Buy?

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) was up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $58.45 and last traded at $58.4550. 722,411 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 3,411,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RPRX has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Royalty Pharma from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.57.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $33.86 billion, a PE ratio of 40.57, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%. The firm had revenue of $674.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $758.93 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.2350 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is currently 64.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total value of $5,853,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 value of $235,594.60. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 208,252 shares of company stock valued at $12,324,407. 18.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barton Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the first quarter valued at approximately $905,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,762,000. Monetta Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,682,000. Dorsey Asset Management LLC raised its position in Royalty Pharma by 0.8% in the first 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, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $4,564,000 after purchasing an additional 44,764 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royalty Pharma Company Profile

Royalty Pharma plc is a biopharmaceutical royalty acquisition company that provides funding to life sciences companies in exchange for rights to future payments associated with approved or development-stage medicines. Its business model gives biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies access to capital while allowing Royalty Pharma to participate in the commercial success of therapies without directly developing or marketing them.

The company invests in royalties and other economic interests tied to a broad range of biopharmaceutical products, including treatments for cancer, rare diseases, immune disorders, diabetes and other chronic conditions.