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

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $54.74 and last traded at $53.86, with a volume of 2758152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Trading Up 0.9%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.40.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.69 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is currently 63.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royalty Pharma news, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $161,385.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 191,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,165,559. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.06, for a total value of $726,073.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,691,605.86. This represents a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 233,976 shares of company stock worth $11,710,449. Corporate insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RPRX. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 868.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 173.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. 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.