Wall Street Zen Upgrades Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma to “strong-buy” from “buy.” Eight analysts rate the stock a Buy, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $61.29.
• Royalty Pharma shares opened at $58.61, compared with a 52-week range of $34.63 to $64.38. The company’s latest quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share exceeded estimates, although revenue of $674.14 million fell below consensus expectations.
• Insiders sold 398,197 shares worth approximately $22.5 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 54.35% of the stock.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on RPRX. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Royalty Pharma from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Royalty Pharma from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Eight investment 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 $61.29.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX opened at $58.61 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.62. Royalty Pharma has a 1-year low of $34.63 and a 1-year high of $64.38. The firm has a market cap of $33.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%.The company had revenue of $674.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $758.93 million. Analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total value of $8,160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 559,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,431,305.60. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 9,099 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total value of $508,452.12. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 398,197 shares of company stock valued at $22,513,280 in the last ninety days. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barton Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 1st quarter worth about $905,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 16.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 24,048 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 233,320 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,016,000 after purchasing an additional 22,015 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,875,000. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,923,000. 54.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc is a biopharmaceutical royalty company that provides funding to life sciences companies in exchange for rights to receive future royalty payments from commercialized or late-stage therapies. Rather than developing and marketing medicines itself, the company invests in pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovations and seeks to generate income from the resulting royalty streams.

Its portfolio is linked to a range of therapies across areas including oncology, immunology, neuroscience, rare diseases and other specialty markets.

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