Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) Receives $48.67 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.6667.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RPRX. Citigroup lifted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, December 11th.

Royalty Pharma Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX opened at $48.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Royalty Pharma has a 12-month low of $29.66 and a 12-month high of $49.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98 and a beta of 0.39.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.13. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 28.21% and a net margin of 32.38%.The company had revenue of $621.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.97 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.63%.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.09, for a total value of $821,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total value of $1,681,449.03. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,590,830.28. This trade represents a 51.38% 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 sold a total of 497,496 shares of company stock worth $21,224,025 over the last three months. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 55,274,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,135,790,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110,115 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 24.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,212,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $960,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,332,074 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the second quarter worth about $181,388,000. Dorsey Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $82,924,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,185,366 shares in 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.