Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.60.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners set a $45.00 price objective on Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

RPRX stock opened at $39.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.43. 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 50 day simple moving average of $39.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.40. Royalty Pharma has a 1 year low of $29.66 and a 1 year high of $41.70.

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

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In other Royalty Pharma news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 69,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.30, for a total value of $2,735,044.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 54,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,152,068. The trade was a 55.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP George W. Lloyd sold 132,426 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total value of $5,077,212.84. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 936,093 shares of company stock valued at $36,499,945. 18.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Royalty Pharma by 367.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,342,000 after buying an additional 160,191 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,990 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 13,489 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,847,934 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $88,656,000 after acquiring an additional 226,048 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 1st quarter valued at about $264,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 13,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.