Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $62.20 and last traded at $62.0140, with a volume of 631154 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on RPRX. Wall Street Zen raised Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.86.

Royalty Pharma Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.00. The stock has a market cap of $35.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.89, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.43.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 32.14% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The company had revenue of $674.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.93 million. Analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total transaction of $8,160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 559,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,431,305.60. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 9,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total transaction of $508,452.12. 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. Insiders sold a total of 398,197 shares of company stock worth $22,513,280 in the last quarter. Insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 5,065.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,204,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,198,192,000 after purchasing an additional 38,445,382 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Royalty Pharma by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,557 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Royalty Pharma by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,240 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 2,011 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 92.1% during the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 28,773 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,613,000 after buying an additional 13,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Odyssean LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 65.3% during the second quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 54,179 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,038,000 after buying an additional 21,401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Company 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.