Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys 117,436 Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 121.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 213,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 117,436 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $8,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. Capital International Investors raised its position in Royalty Pharma by 24.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,212,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $960,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,332,074 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $131,923,000. Dorsey Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $82,924,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 737.3% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,481,771 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $87,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 379.2% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,235,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $78,855,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768,702 shares during the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In related news, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $161,385.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 191,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,165,559. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total value of $721,831.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,197 shares in the company, valued at $959,891.75. The trade was a 42.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 199,185 shares of company stock worth $10,082,926. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX opened at $54.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $51.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.39. Royalty Pharma PLC has a fifty-two week low of $33.59 and a fifty-two week high of $56.50. The company has a market cap of $31.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.43.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%.The firm had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $881.69 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.95%.

Royalty Pharma 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.