Royalty Pharma PLC (RPRX) - What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts remain positive: All eight covering firms rate Royalty Pharma a Buy, with an average 12-month price target of $63.29. Recent target increases include Morgan Stanley’s move to $67 and Citigroup’s to $78.
• Quarterly results were mixed: EPS of $1.32 beat estimates of $1.27, but revenue of $674.1 million fell short of the $758.9 million consensus.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, equivalent to $0.94 annually and a 1.4% yield. Insiders sold 208,252 shares worth about $12.3 million over the past 90 days.

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.29.

RPRX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Royalty Pharma from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.30. 4,835,293 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,199,374. The company has a market cap of $38.70 billion, a PE ratio of 56.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.37. Royalty Pharma has a twelve month low of $37.31 and a twelve month high of $69.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.81.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%. The business had revenue of $674.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $758.93 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma will post 5.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a $0.2350 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Royalty Pharma's payout ratio is currently 78.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 4,126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $235,594.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total value of $5,853,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 270,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,826,570.53. This represents a 27.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 208,252 shares of company stock valued at $12,324,407 over the last 90 days. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Royalty Pharma by 2,562.2% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,544,018 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $74,000,000 after buying an additional 1,486,020 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Royalty Pharma during the 1st quarter worth about $37,941,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $167,696,000 after acquiring an additional 786,921 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 1st quarter worth about $30,279,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,761,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company's stock.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc is a biopharmaceutical royalty company that provides funding to companies and inventors in exchange for royalty interests in medicines. It acquires existing royalties and helps finance drug development and commercialization through royalty-based transactions and other forms of funding.

The company's portfolio includes royalty interests in medicines across a range of therapeutic areas, spanning both approved treatments and products in development. Royalty Pharma generally earns revenue when these medicines are sold; it does not operate as a conventional drug manufacturer or commercialize medicines itself.

Founded in 1996 by Pablo Legorreta, the company became publicly listed in 2020.

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