Canal Insurance CO Acquires Shares of 20,000 Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Canal Insurance CO opened a new position in Royalty Pharma during the first quarter, buying 20,000 shares valued at about $959,000.
• Royalty Pharma reported Q1 EPS of $1.30, beating analyst estimates, even though revenue came in below expectations at $630.6 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating staying at Buy; meanwhile, insider selling has been notable, including EVP Christopher Hite’s recent sale of 150,000 shares.

Canal Insurance CO acquired a new stake in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $959,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 55,274,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,135,790,000 after acquiring an additional 11,110,115 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,104,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,201,870,000 after buying an additional 3,891,615 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,649,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $411,502,000 after buying an additional 376,888 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,719,843 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $297,465,000 after buying an additional 102,430 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,106,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $197,331,000 after buying an additional 449,498 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royalty Pharma Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Royalty Pharma stock opened at $56.45 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $34.08 and a twelve month high of $58.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $54.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.08.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma's payout ratio is presently 63.95%.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In other news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 150,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 559,399 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,431,305.60. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.06, for a total transaction of $726,073.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,691,605.86. This trade represents a 30.03% 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 a total of 427,800 shares of company stock valued at $23,333,723 in the last 90 days. 18.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RPRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.57.

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.

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