EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Royalty Pharma PLC, purchasing 7,785 shares valued at approximately $242,000.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their ratings on Royalty Pharma, with Wall Street Zen moving it from "hold" to "buy" and Morgan Stanley increasing its price target from $51 to $54.
• Royalty Pharma has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.4%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 15th.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,985,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $76,162,000 after buying an additional 950,880 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter worth $1,586,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter worth $1,524,000. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 132.6% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 20,342 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 11,597 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 66,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 13,376 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company's stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

RPRX stock traded down $1.21 on Monday, hitting $35.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,693,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,780,307. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.31. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 1 year low of $24.05 and a 1 year high of $38.00. The stock has a market cap of $20.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $578.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.06 million. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 44.23% and a return on equity of 25.54%. Equities analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RPRX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Royalty Pharma currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.00.

Royalty Pharma Profile

Royalty Pharma plc operates as a buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a funder of innovations in the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States. It is also involved in the identification, evaluation, and acquisition of royalties on various biopharmaceutical therapies. In addition, the company collaborates with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and not-for-profits, small and mid-cap biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical companies.