Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.86.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $61.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $35.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.87. Royalty Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $34.08 and a fifty-two week high of $62.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $674.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $758.93 million. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 32.14% and a return on equity of 30.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royalty Pharma will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 9,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total transaction of $508,452.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher Hite sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total transaction of $8,160,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 559,399 shares in the company, valued at $30,431,305.60. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 462,596 shares of company stock valued at $25,989,538 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 18.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. Barton Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $905,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 172,418 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,662,000 after acquiring an additional 24,048 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at $2,875,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter worth $4,923,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Royalty Pharma by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 233,320 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,016,000 after purchasing an additional 22,015 shares during the period. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.