Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $47.86 and last traded at $47.43, with a volume of 4344628 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on RPRX shares. Leerink Partners set a $45.00 price objective on Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.67.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $27.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.13 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.13. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 28.21% and a net margin of 32.38%.The firm had revenue of $621.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.97 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP George W. Lloyd sold 79,346 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $3,060,375.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,182,324.78. This trade represents a 72.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 114,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total value of $4,924,629.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 23,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,026,960.48. The trade was a 82.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 778,654 shares of company stock worth $31,489,703. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Royalty Pharma by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 55,274,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,135,790,000 after buying an additional 11,110,115 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,104,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,201,870,000 after acquiring an additional 3,891,615 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,200,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $430,426,000 after purchasing an additional 42,800 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Royalty Pharma by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,649,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $411,502,000 after purchasing an additional 376,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,176,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $299,494,000 after purchasing an additional 177,036 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.