Dorsey Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Dorsey Asset Management trimmed its Royalty Pharma stake by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 90,980 shares. Even after the reduction, RPRX remained its 6th-largest holding and made up about 7.6% of the portfolio.
• Insiders also sold shares recently, including EVP Marshall Urist and CFO Terrance P. Coyne, with about 199,185 shares sold in the last quarter worth roughly $10.1 million. These sales were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Royalty Pharma: several analysts raised price targets, and the stock currently carries an average Buy rating with a consensus target price of $53.71. The company also beat quarterly EPS estimates and recently paid a $0.235 per-share dividend.

Dorsey Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,259,469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 90,980 shares during the period. Royalty Pharma makes up approximately 7.6% of Dorsey Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Dorsey Asset Management LLC owned 0.39% of Royalty Pharma worth $87,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LM Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 868.1% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total transaction of $721,831.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,891.75. This represents a 42.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $3,476,258.02. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 199,185 shares of company stock worth $10,082,926. Corporate insiders own 18.84% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RPRX. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Royalty Pharma currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of Royalty Pharma stock opened at $54.21 on Wednesday. Royalty Pharma PLC has a one year low of $34.08 and a one year high of $56.50. The firm has a market cap of $31.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock's 50-day moving average is $51.82 and its 200-day moving average is $45.82.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%.The business had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.69 million. Equities analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

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

Royalty Pharma Company 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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