Entropy Technologies LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP cut its Royalty Pharma stake by 79% in the first quarter, selling 70,027 shares and retaining 18,625 shares valued at approximately $893,000.
• Analysts remain bullish, with seven Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $56.57; several firms recently raised their targets to between $58 and $66.
• Royalty Pharma reported quarterly EPS of $1.30, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, equivalent to a 1.6% annual yield.

Entropy Technologies LP lowered its stake in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 79.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,625 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 70,027 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Royalty Pharma by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 13,113 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 9,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 43,287 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,673,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 24,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.57.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of RPRX opened at $59.97 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $55.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.54. The firm has a market cap of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.43. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 12-month low of $34.08 and a 12-month high of $60.08. 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 (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $630.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In related news, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $161,385.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 191,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,165,559. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were 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. Insiders sold a total of 393,009 shares of company stock valued at $21,601,827 over the last ninety days. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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