Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” 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 report published on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on RPRX. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Royalty Pharma from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Royalty Pharma from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

RPRX traded down $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.16. 2,573,204 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,871,256. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48. The company has a market capitalization of $22.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.56. Royalty Pharma has a 1 year low of $24.05 and a 1 year high of $41.24.

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

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 24.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,212,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $960,064,000 after buying an additional 5,332,074 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,200,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $430,426,000 after acquiring an additional 42,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,194,938 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $367,324,000 after acquiring an additional 678,810 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,176,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $299,494,000 after acquiring an additional 177,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the 2nd quarter worth $181,388,000. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc operates as a buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a funder of innovations in the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States. It is also involved in the identification, evaluation, and acquisition of royalties on various biopharmaceutical therapies. In addition, the company collaborates with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and not-for-profits, small and mid-cap biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical companies.