Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Lowers Position in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 39.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,010,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,302,867 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.35% of Royalty Pharma worth $96,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 173.4% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on RPRX shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.57.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

RPRX stock opened at $58.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.02, a PEG ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $55.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.21. 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 PLC has a 12-month low of $34.08 and a 12-month high of $59.72.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $630.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.69 million. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 33.88% and a return on equity of 29.25%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Royalty Pharma's payout ratio is presently 63.95%.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In other news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total value of $5,652,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 459,399 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,965,231.48. This represents a 17.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 427,800 shares of company stock valued at $23,333,723. Insiders own 18.84% of the company's stock.

Royalty Pharma Profile

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.

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