Analysts Set Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) Price Target at $53.71

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.7143.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $54.87 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.62. The company has a market capitalization of $31.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Royalty Pharma has a 1-year low of $34.08 and a 1-year high of $56.50.

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

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $3,476,258.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $161,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 191,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,165,559. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 199,185 shares of company stock worth $10,082,926 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RPRX. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 55,274,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,135,790,000 after acquiring an additional 11,110,115 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,104,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,201,870,000 after acquiring an additional 3,891,615 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,649,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $411,502,000 after acquiring an additional 376,888 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,719,843 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $297,465,000 after acquiring an additional 102,430 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,106,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $197,331,000 after acquiring an additional 449,498 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

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.