Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. Sells 21,996 Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 386,440 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 21,996 shares during the quarter. Royalty Pharma makes up approximately 5.0% of Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $14,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 367.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,342,000 after acquiring an additional 160,191 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 13,489 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the 1st quarter valued at about $264,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 41.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 92,395 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,329,000 after purchasing an additional 17,894 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on RPRX shares. UBS Group raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Leerink Partners set a $45.00 price target on Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.67.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $46.35 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.42 and a 200-day moving average of $40.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33 and a beta of 0.40. 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 PLC has a 12 month low of $29.66 and a 12 month high of $47.86.

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

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.235 dividend. 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 2.0%. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.53, for a total value of $1,584,034.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 43,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,129.58. This trade represents a 44.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.09, for a total value of $821,800.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 532,287 shares of company stock worth $22,215,917. Company insiders own 18.90% 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.