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

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $43.76 and last traded at $43.68, with a volume of 5153969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RPRX. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. Leerink Partners set a $45.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, December 11th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.89. The company has a market capitalization of $25.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.06. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 32.51% and a return on equity of 26.36%. The business had revenue of $609.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $765.01 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This is an increase from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In other news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.09, for a total transaction of $821,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 20,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.29, for a total value of $872,856.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $990,691.65. This represents a 46.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,309,216 shares of company stock valued at $52,015,364. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,212,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $960,064,000 after acquiring an additional 5,332,074 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the second quarter valued at $181,388,000. Dorsey Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the third quarter valued at $82,924,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 737.3% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,481,771 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $87,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Royalty Pharma by 379.2% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,235,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $78,855,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768,702 shares during the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.