CenterBook Partners LP Sells 18,104 Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

CenterBook Partners LP decreased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 70,212 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 18,104 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $2,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Royalty Pharma by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 172,418 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,662,000 after buying an additional 24,048 shares in the last quarter. Regal Partners Ltd grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 6.7% during the third quarter. Regal Partners Ltd now owns 1,435,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,631,000 after buying an additional 89,930 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the fourth quarter worth $2,875,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 812,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,604,000 after acquiring an additional 36,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at $4,923,000. Institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of 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, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

RPRX stock opened at $55.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.03 billion, a PE ratio of 37.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.28. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 1-year low of $33.40 and a 1-year high of $56.50.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. The company 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.95%.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In related news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total transaction of $721,831.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $959,891.75. This represents a 42.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $3,476,258.02. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 199,185 shares of company stock valued at $10,082,926 in the last quarter. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.