Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $56.57 and last traded at $56.5070, with a volume of 957999 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $56.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Royalty Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.81 and a 200-day moving average of $46.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.08. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 33.88% and a return on equity of 29.25%. The firm had revenue of $630.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $881.69 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In related news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 9,098 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total transaction of $502,027.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,099 shares in the company, valued at $502,082.82. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $3,476,258.02. 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 have sold 323,492 shares of company stock worth $17,160,920 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 55,274,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,135,790,000 after buying an additional 11,110,115 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,104,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,201,870,000 after acquiring an additional 3,891,615 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,649,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $411,502,000 after acquiring an additional 376,888 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,719,843 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $297,465,000 after acquiring an additional 102,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,106,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $197,331,000 after acquiring an additional 449,498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.